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"THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS 

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This  BOOK  may  be  kept  out  TWO  WEEKS 
ONLY,  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  FIVE 
CENTS  a  day  thereafter.  It  was  taken  out  on 
the  day  indicated  below: 


Lib.  10M-N  '37 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/boytravellersinrknox 


'■;:-■ 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS    IN 


THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE 


ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  YOUTHS  IN  A  JOURNEY  IN 

EUROPEAN   AND   ASIATIC  RUSSIA,  WITH   ACCOUNTS  OF  A  TOUR  ACROSS  SIBERIA 

VOYAGES  ON   THE   AMOOR,  VOLGA,  AND   OTHER   RIVERS,  A  VISIT  TO 

CENTRAL  ASIA,  TRAVELS  AMONG  THE  EXILES,  AND  A  HISTORICAL 

SKETCH  OF  THE  EMPIRE  FROM  ITS  FOUNDATION 

TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME 


By  THOMAS   W.  KNOX 


Illustrated 


NEW     YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    FRANKLIN    SQUARE 

1887 


By  THOMAS   W.  KNOX. 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  FAR  EAST.     Five  Vol- 
umes.    Copiously   Illustrated.     8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00  each.     The 
volumes  sold  separately.     Each  volume  complete  in  itself. 
I.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in'  a  Journey  to  Japan  and  China. 

II.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  to  Siam  and  Java.     With 
Descriptions  of  Cochin  China,  Cambodia,  Sumatra,  and  the  .Malay  Archipelago. 

III.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  to  Ceylon  and  India.    With 
Descriptions  of  Borneo,  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  Burmah. 

IV.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  to  Egypt  and  Palestine. 
V.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  through  Africa. 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.  Adven- 
tures of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  through  Ecuador,  Peru, 
Bolivia,  Brazil,  Paraguay.  Argentine  Republic,  and  Chili;  with 
Descriptions  of  Patagonia  and  Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  Voyages 
upon  the  Amazon  and  La  Plata  Rivers.  Copiously  Illustrated. 
8vo,  Cloth,  f  3  00.  

THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 
Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  in  European  and 
Asiatic  Russia,  with  Accounts  of  a  Tour  across  Siberia,  Voy- 
ages on  the  Amoor,  Volga,  and  other  Rivers,  a  Visit  to  Central 
Asia,  Travels  Among  the  Exiles,  and  a  Historical  Sketch  of  the 
Empire  from  its  Foundation  to  the  Present  Time.  Copiously 
Illustrated.     8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  "VIVIAN"  TO  THE  NORTH  POLE 
AND  BEYOND.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  the  Open 
Polar  Sea.     Copiously  Illustrated.     8vo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 


HUNTING  ADVENTURES  ON  LAND  AND  SEA.   Two 

Volumes.     Copiously  Illustrated.     8vo,  Cloth,  12  50  each.    The 
volumes  sold  separately.     Each  volume  complete  in  itself. 

I.  The  Young  Ximrods  in  North  America. 
II.  The  Young  Ximhods  Around  the  World. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

Any  of  the  above  volume.'!  sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United 
States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


Copyright,  1S86,  by  Harpkk  &  Brothers. — All  rights  reserved. 


PREFACE 


IN"  preparing  this  volume  for  the  press,  the  author  has  followed  very 
closely  the  plan  adopted  for  "  The  Boy  Travellers  in  the  Far  East," 
and  also  for  his  more  recent  work,  "  The  Boy  Travellers  in  South  Amer- 
ica." Accompanied  by  their  versatile  and  accomplished  mentor,  Dr. 
Bronson,  our  young  friends,  Frank  Bassett  and  Fred  Bronson,  journeyed 
from  Vienna  to  Warsaw  and  St.  Petersburg,  and  after  an  interesting  so- 
journ in  the  latter  city,  proceeded  to  Moscow,  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Czars.  From  Moscow  they  went  to  Nijni  Novgorod,  to  attend  the  great 
fair  for  which  that  city  is  famous,  and  thence  descended  the  Volga  to  the 
Caspian  Sea.  On  their  way  down  the  great  river  they  visited  the  prin- 
cipal towns  and  cities  along  its  banks,  saw  many  strange  people,  and  lis- 
tened to  numerous  tales  and  legends  concerning  the  races  which  make  up 
the  population  of  the  great  Muscovite  Empire. 

They  visited  the  recently  developed  petroleum  fields  of  the  Caspian, 
and,  after  crossing  that  inland  sea,  made  a  journey  in  Central  Asia  to 
study  certain  phases  of  the  "Eastern  Question,"  and  learn  something 
about  the  difficulties  that  have  arisen  between  England  and  Russia.  Af- 
terwards they  travelled  in  the  Caucasus,  visited  the  Crimea,  and  bade  fare- 
well to  the  Empire  as  they  steamed  away  from  Odessa.  Concerning  the 
parts  of  Russia  that  they  were  unable  to  visit  they  gathered  much  infor- 
mation, and  altogether  their  notes,  letters,  and  memoranda  would  make  a 
portly  volume. 

The  author  has  been  three  times  in  the  Russian  Empire,  and  much  of 

the  country  described  by  "The  Boy  Travellers"  was  seen  and  traversed 

by  him.     In  his  first  journey  he  entered  the  Czar's  dominions  at  Petro- 

pavlovsk  in   Kamtchatka,  ascended  the  Amoor  River  through  its  entire 

S*   navigable  length,  traversed  Siberia  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Ural 

<rj  Mountains,  and  continuing  thence  to  Kazan,  Moscow,  St.  Petersburg,  and 

^   Warsaw,  left  the  protection  of  the  Russian  flag  eleven  thousand  miles 

^-  from  where  he  first  went  beneath  it.     His  second  visit  included  the  Cri- 


<>  PREFACE. 

mea  and  other  regions  bordering  the  Black  Sea,  and  his  third  was  confined 
to  Finland  and  other  Baltic  provinces. 

In  addition  to  his  personal  observations  in  Russia,  the  author  has 
drawn  upon  the  works  of  others.  Many  books  of  Russian  travel  and  his- 
tory have  been  examined ;  some  of  them  have  been  mentioned  in  the  text 
of  the  narrative,  but  it  has  not  been  practicable  to  refer  to  all.  Indebt- 
edness is  hereby  acknowledged  to  the  following  books :  "  Free  Russia," 
by  Hepworth  Dixon;  "Turkestan"  and  "Life  of  Peter  the  Great,''  by 
Hon.  Eugene  Schuyler ;  "  A  Ride  to  Khiva,"  by  Col.  Fred  Burnaby ; 
"  Campaigning  on  the  Oxus,  and  the  Fall  of  Khiva,"  by  J.  A.  Macgahan  ; 
"Life  of  Peter  the  Great"  and  "Life  of  Genghis  Khan,"  by  Jacob  Ab- 
bott; "The  Siberian  Overland  Route,"  by  Alexander  Michie;  "Tent-life 
in  Siberia,"  by  George  Kennan ;  "  Reindeer,  Dogs,  and  Snow-shoes,"  by 
Richard  J.  Bush ;  "  The  Invasion  of  the  Crimea,"  by  A.  AV.  Kinglake ; 
"Fred  Markham  in  Russia,"  by  W.  II.  G.  Kingston ;  "The  Knout  and 
the  Russians,"  by  G.  De  Lagny ;  "  The  Russians  at  the  Gates  of  Herat " 
and  "  The  Region  of  the  Eternal  Fire,"  by  Charles  Marvin ;  "  Travels  in 
the  Regions  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Amoor"  and  "  Oriental  and  West- 
ern Siberia,"  by  Thomas  W.  Atkinson ;  and  "  The  Russians  at  Home," 
by  Sutherland  Edwards.  The  author  has  also  drawn  upon  several  articles 
in  Harper's  Magazine,  including  his  own  series  describing  his  journey 
through  Siberia. 

The  publishers  have  kindly  permitted  the  use  of  illustrations  from 
their  previous  publications  on  the  Russian  Empire,  in  addition  to  those 
specially  prepared  for  this  book.  As  a  result  of  their  courtesy,  the  author 
has  been  aide  to  present  a  "  copiously  illustrated  "  book,  which  is  always  a 
delight  to  the  3Touthful  eye. 

T.  W.  K. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Departure  from  Vienna. — Frank's  Letter.  —  A  Farewell  Promenade.  —  From 
Vienna  to  Cracow.  —  The  Great  Salt-mine  of  Wibliczka,  and  what  was 
seen  there.  —  Churches  and  Palaces  Underground.  — Voyage  on  a  Subter- 
ranean  Lake 15 

CHAPTER  II. 

Leaving  Cracow. —  The  Russian  Frontier. —  The  Police  and  the  Custom-house. 
— Russian  Censorship  of  Books  and  Papers. — Hatching  a  Smuggler. — From 
the  Frontier  to  Warsaw. — Sights  and  Incidents  in  the  Capital  of  Poland. — 
From  Warsaw  to  St.  Petersburg 40 

CHAPTER  III.  ■ 

In  the  Streets  of  St.  Petersburg. — Isvoshchiks  and  Droskies. — Counting  in  Rus- 
sian. —  Passports  and  their  Uses.  —  On  the  Nevski  Prospect.  —  Visiting  the 
Church  of  Kazan. —  The  Russo-Greek  Religion. —  Unfavorable  Position  of 
St.  Petersburg. — Danger  of  Destruction. — Great  Inundation  of  1824. — Statue 
of  Peter  the  Great. — Admiralty  Square. — The  Sailors  and  the  Statue .08 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Dinner  in  a  Russian  Restaurant.  —  Cabbage  Soup,  Fish  Pies,  and  other  odd 
Dishes. — The  "Samovar"  and  its  Uses.  —  Russian  Tea-drinkers.  —  "  Joltai 
Chai." — Alexander's  Column. —  Fortress  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul. —  Imperial 
Assassinations. — Sketches  of  the  People. — Russian  Police  and  their  Ways..     76 

CHAPTER  V. 

Number  and  Character  of  the  Russian  People. — Pan-Slavic  Union. — St.  Isaac's 
Church:  its  History  and  Description. —  The  Winter  Palace  and  the  Her- 
mitage. —  Sights  in  the  Palace.  —  Catherine's  Rules  for  her  Receptions.  — 
John  Paul  Jones  in  Russia.  —  The  Crown  Jewels  and  the  Orloff  Diamond. 
— Anecdotes  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas. — Relics  of  Peter  the  Great. — From 
Palace  to  Prison. — Tombs  of  Russia's  Emperors. — A  Monument  and  an  Anec- 
dote       93 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Gostinna  Dvor  :  its  Extent  and  Character. —  Peculiarity  of  Russian  Shop- 
ping.— Curious  Customs.  —  Old-clothes  Market.  —  Hay-market. —  Pigeons  in 
Russian  Cities. — Frozen  Animals. — Church  and  Monastery  of  St.  Alexander 
Nevski.  —  A  Persian  Train.  —  A  Coffin  of  Solid  Silver. — The  Summer  Gar- 


8  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

den. — Speaking  to  the  Emperor.  —  Kriloff  and  his  Fables. — Visit  to  a  Rus- 
sian Theatre. — "A  Life  for  the  Czar." — A  Russian  Comedy 110 

CHAPTER   VII. 

Newspapers  in  Russia  :  their  Number,  Character,  and  Influence. — Difficulties 
of  Editorial  Life. — The  Censorship. — An  Excursion  to  Peterhof,  Oranien- 

BAUM,    AND      CrONSTADT. SIGHTS     IN    THE    SUMMER    PaLACE. CltONSTADT    AND     THE 

Naval  Station. — The  Russian  Navy. — The  Russian  Army:  its  Composition  and 
Numbers. — The  Cossacks. — Anecdotes  of  Russian  Military  Life 130 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Visiting  the  University  of  St.  Petersburg. — Education  in  Russia. — Primary  and 
other  Schools. — The  System  of  Instruction. — Recent  Progress  in  Educa- 
tional Matters. —  Universities  in  the  Empire:  their  Number  and  Location. 
— Religious  Liberty. — Treatment  of  the  Jews. — The  Islands  of  the  Neva, 

AND    WHAT     WAS     SEEN    THERE.  —  I.N    A    "TrAKTIR." BRIBERY      AMONG    RUSSIAN     OF- 
FICIALS      1~>0 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Studies  of  St.  Petersburg. —  Mu.iiks. — "The  Imperial  Nosegay." — A  Short  His- 
tory of  Russian  Serfdom  :  its  Origin,  Growth,  and  Abuses.  —  Emancipation 
of  the  Serfs.  —  Present  Condition  of  the  Peasant  Class.  —  Seeing  the  Em- 
peror.— How  the  Czar  appears  in  Public. —  Public  and  Secret  Police:  their 
Extraordinary  Powers. — Anecdotes  of  Police  Severity. — Russian  Courts  of 
Law 172 

CHAPTER    X. 

Winter  in  Russia.  — Fashionable  and  other  Furs.  — Sleighs  and  Sledges. — No 
Sleigh-bells  in  Russian  Cities.  —  Official  Opening  of  the  Neva.  —  Russian 
Ice-hills. —  "Butter-week." — Kissing  at  Easter.  —  An  Active  Kissing— time;  — 
Russian  Stoves  and  Baths. — Effects  of  Severe  Cold. — The  Story  of  the 
Frozen  Nose.  —  How  Men  are  Frozen  to  Death 193 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Leaving  St.  Petersburg. —  Novgorod  the  Great:  its  History  and  Traditions. — 
Rurik  and  his  Successors. —  Barbarities  of  John  the  Terrible. — Early  His- 
tory of  Russia. —  An  Imperial  Bear-hunt. — Origin  of  the  House  of  Roman- 
off.—  "A  Life  for  the  Czar."  —  Railways  in  Russia  from  Novgorod  to 
Moscow 211 

CHAPTER  XII 

Fiiist  Impressions  of  Moscow.  —  Undulations  of  the  Ground.  — Irregularity  of 
the  Buildings,  and  the  Cause  thereof.  —  Napoleon's  Campaign  in  Russia. — 
Disaster  and  Retreat. —  The  Burning  of  Moscow. — The  Kremlin:  its  Church- 
es, Treasures,  and  Historical  Associations.  —  Anecdotes  of  Russian  Life. — 
The  Church  of  St.  Basil 230 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Great  Theatre  of  Moscow. — Operatic   Performances. — The  Kitai  Gorod 

AND    GOSTINNA   DVOH. — ROMANOFF    HoUSE   AND    THE    RoMANOFF   FaMII.V. — SKETCH   OF 


CONTENTS.  9 

PAGB 

the  Rulers  of  Russia. — Anecdotes  of  Peter  the  Great  and  others. — Church 
of  the  Saviour.  —  Mosques  and  Pagodas. — The  Museum. — Riding-school. — ■ 
Suhareff  Tower. — Trakiirs. —  Old  Believers. —  The  Si-arrow  Hills  and  the 
Simonoff  Monastery 252 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

A  Visit  to  the  Troitska  Monastery,  and  what  was  seen  there.  —  Curious  Le- 
gends.— Monks  at  Dinner. — European  Pairs. — The  Great  Fair  at  Nijni  Nov- 
gorod.— Sights  and  Scenes. —  Minin's  Tomb  and  Tower. — Down  the  Volga  by 
Steamboat.  — Steam  Navigation  on  the  great  River.  — Kazan,  and  what  was 
seen  there. — The  Route  to  Siberia 271 

*      CHAPTER  XV. 

Avatcha  Bay,  in  Kamtchatka. — Attack  upon  Petropavlovsk  by  the  Allied 
Fleet. — Dogs  and  Dog-driving. —  Rapid  Travelling  with  a  Dog-team.  —  Popu- 
lation and  Resources  of  Kamtchatka. — Reindeer  and  their  Uses. — The 
Amodr  River.  —  Native  Tribes  and  Curious  Customs.  —  Tigers  in  Siberia.  — 
Navigation  of  the  Amoor.  —  Overland  Travelling  in  Siberia.  —  Riding  in  a 
Tarantasse.  —  A  Rough  Road.  —  An  Amusing  Mistake.  —  From  Stratensk  to 
Nertchinsk. —  Gold-mining  in  Siberia 289 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Exiles  of  Siberia. —  The  Decembrists  and  their  Experience.— Social  Posi- 
tion of  Exiles. — Different  Classes  of  Exiles  and  their  Sentences. — Crimi- 
nals and  Politicals. — Degrees  of  Punishment. — Perpetual  Colonists. —  How 
Exiles  Travel. — Lodging— houses  and  Prisons.—  Convoys. —  Thrilling  Story 
of  an  Escape  from  Siberia.  —  Secret  Roads.  —  How  Feasants  treat  the  Ex- 
iles.— Prisoners  in  Chains 313 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Character  of  the  Siberian  Population. — Absence  of  Serfdom,  and  its  Effect. 
— A  Russian  Fete. — Amusements  of  the  Peasantry. — Courtship  and  Marriage. 
-  — Curious  Customs. —  Whipping  a  Wife. —  Overland  through  Siberia  again. — 
Chetah  and  the  Bouriats. — In  a  Bouriat  Village. — Verckne  Udinsk. — Sibe- 
rian Robbers. —  Tea-trains  and  Tea-trade. —  Kiachta. — Lodged  by  the  Police. 
— Trade   between  Russia  and  China 334 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

General  Aspects  of  Mai-mai-chin. — Dinner  with  a  Chinese  Governor. — A  The- 
atrical Performance. — Lake  Baikal  :  its  Remarkable  Features. — A  Wonder- 
ful Ride. —  Irkutsk:  its  Population,  Size,  and  Peculiarities. —  Social  Gay- 
eties. — Preparations  for  a  long  Sleigh-ride. —  List  of  Garments. —  Varieties 
of  Sleighs. — Farewell  to  Irkutsk. — Sleighing  Incidents. — Food  on  the  Road. 
—Siberian  Mails.  —  Advantages  of  Winter  Travelling. — Sleighing  on  bare 
Ground. — A  Snowless  Region.  —  Krasnoyarsk 354 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Position  and  Character  of  Krasnoyarsk.  — A  Lessox  in  Russian  Pronunciation. — 
Market  Scene. — Siberian  Trees. — The  "  Oukhaba." — A  New  Sensation. — Road- 
fever  and  its  Cause.  — An  Exciting  Adventure  with  Wolves. —  How  Wolves 
are  Hunted.  —  From  Krasnoyarsk  to  Tomsk.  — Steam  Navigation  in  Siberia.— 


10  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Barnaool. — Mines  of  the  Altai. — Tigers  and  Tiger  Stories. — The  "Bouran." — 
Across  the  Baraba  Steppe. — Tomen  and  Ekaterinehdrg. —  From  Europe  to 
Asia. — Perm,  Kazan,  and  Nijni  Novgorod. — End  of  the  Sleigh-uide 377 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Down  the  Volga  again. — Russian  Reception  Ceremony. —  Simbirsk,  Samara,  and 
Saratov.  —  German  Settlers  on  the  Volga.  —  Don  Cossacks.  —  Astrachan. — 
Curious  Population. — Voyage  on  the  Caspian  Ska. — The  Caspian  Petroleum 
Region. — Tank-steamers. —  Interesting  Facts  and  Figures  of  the  New  Petro- 
lia.  —  Present  Product  of  the  Baku  Oil-fields.  —  Excursion  to  Balakhani, 
and  Visit  to  the  Oil-wells. — Temples  of  the  Fire-worshippers. —  Antiquity 
of  the  Caspian  Petroleum  Region. — Marco  Polo  and   other  Authorities.  .  . .  403 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

A  Glance  at  Central  Asia. — Russian  Conquest  in  Turkestan. — War  and  Diplo- 
macy   AMONG    THE     KlRGHESE   TRIBES.  RUSSIAN     TAXES     AND    THEIR    COLLECTION.  

Turcoman  and  Kirghese  Raids. — Prisoners  sold  into  Slavery. — Fortified 
Villages  and  Towers  of  Refuge.  —  Commerce  in  Turkestan. — Jealousy'  of 
Foreigners. —  Travels  of  Vambery  and  Others. — Vambery's  Narrow  Escape. 
— Turcoman  Character. — Payments  for  Human  Heads.  —  Marriage  Customs 
among  the  Turcomans. — Extent  and  Population  of  Central  Asia 428 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Frank  and  Fred  in  the  Turcoman  Country. — The  Trans-Caspian  Railway-. — 
Skobei.eff's  Campaign,  and  the  Capture  of  Geok  Tepe. — English  Jealousy 
of  Russian  Advances. — Rivers  of  Central  Asia. — The  Oxus  and  Jaxartes. — 
Agriculture  by  Irrigation. — Khiva,  Samarcand,  and  Bokhara. — A  Ride  on 
the  Trans-Caspian  Railway'. — Statistics  of  the  Line. — Kizil  Arvat,  Askaiiad, 
and  Sarakhs. — Route  to  Herat  and  India.  —  Turcoman  Devastation.  —  The 
Afghan  Boundary  Question.  —  How  Merv  was  Captured.  —  O'Donovan  and 
MacGahan:  their  Remarkable  Journeys. — Railway  Route  from  England  to 
India. — Return  to  Baku 451 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Baku  to  Tiflis. — The  Capital  of  the  Caucasus.  —  Mountain  Travelling. — Cross- 
ing the  Range.  —  Petroleum  Locomotives.  —  Batoum  and  its  Importance. — 
Trebizond  and  Erzeroom.  —  Sebastopol  and  the  Crimea.  —  Short  History' 
of  the  Crimean  War. — Russo-Turkish  War  of  1877-78. — Battles  in  the  Crimea 
and  Siege  of  Sebastopol.  — Visiting  the  Malakoff  and  Redan  Forts. —  View 
of  the  Battle-fields. — Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  at  Balaki.ava. — Pres- 
ent Condition  of  Sebastopol. — Odessa. — Arrival  at  Constantinople. — Frank's 
Dream. — The  End 480 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Winter  Scene  in  Russia Frontispiece. 

PAGE 

Fred's  Reminder 15 

St.  Stephen's  Cathedral,  Vienna 16 

View  of  the  Palace  of  Cracow 17 

Kosciusko,  1777 18 

Kosciusko,  1817 19 

Church  of  St.  Mary,  Cracow 20 

Polish  Jew  of  high  Rank 21 

Polish  Jews  of  the  Middle  Class 22 

Our  Guide  in  Costume 23 

The  Inspector-general 24 

The  Shaft 26 

Descending  the  Shaft 27 

Lamp-bearers 28 

A  Foot-path 29 

An  Underground  Chapel 31 

Men  Cutting  Salt  in  the  Mine 32 

Finishing  the  Columns 33 

Subterranean  Stables 34 

A  Mining  Singer 35 

"  Gliick-auf !" 36 

Fete  in  the  Grand  Saloon  of  Entertainment.  37 

A  Retired  Director 3S 

Outer  Wall  of  Cracow 40 

Custom-house  Formalities 41 

Passport  not  Correct 42 

In  the  Passport  Bureau 43 

Way  Station  on  the  Railway 45 

Before  Examination 46 

After  Examination 47 

Scene  on  the  Railway 48 

Shutes  for  loading  Coal  on  the  Railway. ...  49 

Polish  National  Costumes 50 

Peasant's  Farm-house 51 

Roval  Palace  at  Warsaw 52 

Shrine  at  a  Gate-way 53 

Lake  in  the  Park 54 

A  Business  Man  of  Warsaw 55 

In  St.  Petersburg 56 

Isvoshchiks  in  Winter 59 

Drosky  Drivers 60 

Sledge  of  a  high  Official 63 

Russian  Workmen  on  their  way  Home  ....  65 


PAGE 

Russian  Officer  with  Decorations 66 

A  Russian  Priest 68 

Convent  of  Solovetsk  in  the  Frozen  Sea. ...  71 

The  Inundation  of  1824 72 

Statue  of  Peter  the  Great 73 

Improvising  a  Statue 75 

Tea-sellers  in  the  Streets 77 

Russian  Restaurant  at  the  Paris  Exposition.  78 

An  Out-door  Tea-party 79 

Russian  Mujiks  drinking  Tea 81 

Plant  from  which  Yellow  Tea  is  made 82 

Column  in  Memory  of  Alexander  1 83 

Peter  the  Great 85 

Assassination  of  Peter  III 87 

Paul  1 88 

Russian  and  Finn 89 

Dvornik  and  Postman 90 

Lodgings  at  the  Frontier 91 

Ordered  to  leave  Russia 92 

Finland  Peasants  in  Holiday  Costume 94 

Inhabitants  of  Southern  Russia 95 

St.  Isaac's  Church  and  Admiralty  Square.  .  96 

Priest  of  the  Church  of  St.  Isaac 98 

Catherine  II.  of  Russia 99 

Reception  of  John  Paul  Jones  by  the  Em- 
press Catherine 101 

Russian  Attack  on  the  Turkish  Galley 103 

The  Orloff  Diamond 104 

Nicholas  1 105 

Peter  III 106 

Circassian  Arms  as  Trophies  of  Battle 107 

Statue  of  Nicholas  1 108 

Politeness  in  the  Market-place Ill 

Importuning  a  Visitor 113 

Frozen  Animals  in  the  Market 114 

Market  for  old  Clothes 116 

Pigeons  in  a  Russian  City - 118 

Persian  Horses  presented  by  the  Shah  ....  119 

Russian  Peasant  Girl 120 

Russian  Nurse-maid  and  Children 121 

Some  of  Kriloff 's  Friends 122 

Kriloff's  Characters  in  Convention 123 


12 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

The  Fox  as  a  Law-giver 126 

One  of  Kriloff's  Characters 127 

Closing  Scene  in  a  Russian  Play 128 

Kriloff's  Statue  in  the  Summer  Garden,  St. 

Petersburg 129 

Press-room  of  a  Daily  Newspaper 131 

Interviewing  an  Editor 132 

Prince  Gortchakoff 133 

Cabinet  and  Chair  in  the  Palace 135 

Illumination  in  a  Russian  Park 130 

Tapestry  and  Fire  Utensils  at  Peterhof. . . .    137 
Door-way  of  Peter's  House  at  Zaandam,  Hol- 
land      138 

A  Student  of  Navigation 139 

Steam  Frigate  near  Cronstadt 140 

Frigate  under  Sail  and  Steam 141 

The  Dreadnought  —  type    of  the  Peter  the 

Great 142 

The  Russian  Army — Regular  Troops 143 

Cossack  Lancers  and  Russian  Guard-house.   144 

The  Russian  Army — Irregular  Troops 14(3 

Grand-duke  Michael 148 

Iron-elad  Steamer  of  the  Baltic  Fleet 149 

Little  Folks  at  School 151 

Learning  to  Weave 152 

Mineral  Cabinet  in  the  University 153 

Parlor  in  a  High-school  for  Women 155 

Private  Room  of  a  wealthy  Student 156 

Lower  Recitation-room 157 

One  of  the  Professors 158 

Descending  a  Shaft 159 

Galleries  in  a  Mine 160 

In  the  Library 161 

A  College  Dormitory 162 

Jewish  Burial-ground 163 

Clothes-dealer  of  Moscow 164 

A  Russian  Troika 165 

A  Villa  on  the  Island 166 

A  Russian  Family 167 

Culprit  Street-sweepers 169 

A  Business  Transaction ...   170 

Peter  the  Great  dressed  for  Battle 171 

An  Imperial  Nosegay 173 

Mujiks  playing  Cards 174 

Peasant's  House  in  Southern  Russia 176 

Peasants'  Huts 178 

Esthonian  Peasants 179 

Alexander  II.,  the  Liberator  of  the  Serfs.  . .    181 

Alexander  III.,  Emperor  of  Russia 182 

Battle  between  Russians  and  Circassians. .  .    1S4 

Sehamvl's  Village  in  the  Caucasus 185 

The  Empress    Marie   Feodorovna,  Wife   of 

Alexander  III 186 

Russian  Peasants  at  their  Recreation 187 

"  Who  is  the  Spy  ?" 189 


PAGE 

Officers  sitting  in  Judgment 191 

Russian  Grand-duke  and  Grand-duchess  . .    192 

Fur-bearing  Seals 194 

Sea-otter 195 

The  Beaver 195 

The  Ermine 196 

The  Raccoon 196 

Russian  Ice-hills 198 

Soldiers  off  Duty— Butter-week 199 

The  Easter  Kiss — agreeable 200 

The  Easter  Kiss — in  the  Family 200 

The  Easter  Kiss — difficult 201 

The  Easter  Kiss — disagreeable 201 

The  Emperor's  Easter  Kiss 203 

Peasant  Girl  in  Winter  Dress 204 

A  Batli  in  the  East 206 

Russian  Street  Scene  in  Winter 208 

Lost  in  a  Snow-storm 210 

Workmen  of  Novgorod  —  Glazier,  Painter, 

and  Carpenters 212 

An  Old  Norse  Chief 213 

View  on  the  Steppe 216 

Ivan  the  Terrible 217 

Alexis    Michailoviteh,  Father   of  Peter   the 

Great 219 

Michael  Feodorovitch,  First  Czar  of  the  Ro- 
manoff Family 220 

Too  near  to  be  pleasant  ....    221 

Wolf  attacking  its  Hunters 222 

Old  Picture  in  the  Church 224 

A  Bishop  of  the  Greek  Church 225 

Millennial  Monument  at  Novgorod 227 

Russian  Boats 228 

Portrait  of  Catherine  II.  in  the  Kremlin  Col- 
lection      229 

Street  Scene  in  Moscow 231 

Bivouacking  in  the  Snow 232 

Battle  between  French  and  Russians 233 

Napoleon  Retreating  from  Moscow 235 

Alexander  1 236 

View  in  the  Kremlin 237 

A  Prisoner  ordered  to  Execution 238 

The  Kremlin  of  Moscow ' 239 

The  Great  Bell  underground 240 

Visiting  the  Great  Bell 24 1 

Empress  Anne 242 

The  Empress  Elizabeth 243 

Coronation  of  Alexander  III 245 

Peter  II 246 

Bishop  in  his  Robes 247 

Great  Gun  at  Moscow 249 

The  Cathedral  at  Moscow 250 

Napoleon's  Retreat  from  Moscow 251 

Dress  of  Peasants — Scene  from  a  Russian 
Opera 253 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


13 


PAGE 

A  Dressing-room  of  the  Opera-house 254 

Working  the  Ship  in  "  L'Af  rieaine  " 205 

Minin-Pojarsky  Monument 257 

Peter's  Escape  from  Assassination 258 

Peter  the  Great  as  Executioner 260 

Catherine  I .261 

Catherine  II 263 

Grand-duke  Nicholas  Alexandroviich 264 

Skinned  and  Stuffed  Man 266 

Russian  Beggars 267 

Tartar  Coffee-house  in  Southern  Russia.  . .  .  269 

Gallery  in  the  Palace 270 

Copy  of  Picture  in  the  Monastery 272 

Window  in  Church  of  the  Trinity 273 

Pity  the  Poor 274 

Curious  Agate  at  Troitska 275 

Paper-knife  from  Troitska— St.  Sergius  and 

the  Bear 276 

Specimens  of  Ecclesiastical  Painting  on  Glass  277 

Russian  Cooper's  Shop  and  Dwelling 278 

Nijni  Novgorod  during   the  Fair 280 

Nijni  Novgorod  after  the  Fair 281 

Tartar  Merchant 282 

Returning  from  the  Fair 283 

Launching  a  Russian  Barge 285 

Tartar  Village  near  the  Volga 286 

Tartar  Baker's  Shop 287 

A  Siberian  Village 289 

Petropavlovsk,  Kamtchatka. — Mount  Avat- 

cha  in  Background 290 

A  Herd  of  Reindeer 291 

Dog-teams  and  Reindeer 293 

Light-house  at  Ghijigha 294 

Ermine-trap 295 

Interior  of  a  Native  House 295 

The  Reindeer 296 

Fish-market  at  Nieolayevsk 297 

Scenery  on  the  Amoor 298 

Gilyak  Woman 299 

Gilyak  Man 299 

Native  Boat — Amoor  River 300 

Goldee  Children 300 

Visiting  a  Goldee  House  at  Night 301 

Inauguration  of  Genghis  Khan 302 

Junction  of  the  Argoon  and  Shilka  to  form 

the  Amoor 303 

Scene  in  a  Posting  Station 304 

A  Tarantasse 306 

Changing  Horses  at  a  Siberian  Station 307 

The  Right  of  Way  in  Russia 309 

Getting  out  of  Difficulty 310 

Valley  of  the  Amoor  above  Ouk-se-me 312 

Interior  of  an  Exile's  Hut 314 

Exiles  passing  through  a  Village 315 

A  Town  built  by  Exiles 317 


PACK 

Banished  for  Five  Years 318 

Banished  for  Three  Years 318 

Colonist's  Village  in  Winter 319 

Exiles  leaving  Moscow 321 

Tagilsk,  centre  of  Iron-mines  of  Siberia ....   322 

A  Siberian  Valley 323 

Two  Exiled  Friends  Meeting 325 

Escaping  Exiles  crossing  a  Stream 326 

Ivanoff's  Cave 327 

Exiles  among  the  Mountains 329 

Siberian  Peasants 331 

Siberian  Milk-women 332 

Siberia  in  Summer 333 

An  Exile  Peasant  and  his  Friends 335 

A  Siberian  Landscape 336 

Girls  Playing  at  Skakiet 337 

A  Village  Festival 338 

Russian  Peasant  Women  , 340 

Making  Calls  after  a  Wedding  342 

Ceremony  after  a  Peasant's  Wedding 343 

The  Mountains  near  Chetah 345 

A  Bouriat  Village 346 

A  Wandering  Priest 347 

Crossing  the  Selenga 349 

Finding  Lodgings  at  Kiachta 351 

Chinese  Cash  from  Mai-maiehin 352 

Articles  of  Russian  Manufacture 353 

Scene  in  a  Chinese  Temple 354 

Theatre  at  Mai-mai-chin 355 

The  Tiger 356 

A  Natural  Arch  on  Lake  Baikal 357 

Caverns  on  Lake  Baikal 358 

Part  of  Irkutsk 359 

View  of  the  Principal  Square  in  Irkutsk.  . .    360 

Dressed  for  the  Road 362 

A  Vashok 363 

My  Kibitka 364 

Farewell  to  Irkutsk 365 

Work  of  the  Frost-king 367 

Interior  of  a  Russian  Inn 369 

Mail-driver  and  Guard 370 

Distant  View  of  a  Siberian  Village 371 

Soldiers  in  Siberian  Ferry-boats 373 

View  of  Krasnoyarsk  from  the  opposite  Bank 

of  the  Yenisei 374 

A  Dangerous  Ride 376 

Beggar  at  a  Siberian  Station 378 

Policeman  at  Krasnoyarsk 380 

Hills  near  a  Siberian  River 381 

Jumping  an  "  Oukhaba  " 382 

Wolves  Attacking  a  Buffalo 384 

A  Siberian  Wolf 385 

Summer  and  Winter  in  Russia 386 

Village  on  a  Russian  Estate 388 

A  Slight  Mishap 389 


14 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Summer  View  near  Barnaool 391 

Attacked  by  a  Tiger 393 

Beareoots  and  Wolves 394 


Receiving    Payment    for   Human    Heads  — 

Khiva 443 

Turcoman  Trophy — A  Russian  Head 445 


The  Steppe  in  Summer 395    Kokbiiri — A  Race  for  a  Bride 447 


Specimen  of  Rock-crystal 397 

Monument  at  the  Boundary 397 

Western  Slope  of  the  Ural  Mountains 398 

Descending  a  Hill-side  Road 400 

Baptizing  through  the  Ice 401 

End  of  the  Sleigh-ride 402 

Offering  of  the  Villagers 404 

Shoeing  an  Ox 406 

Knife-whip 407 

Armenian  Bishop  of  Astrachan 408 

A  Tartar  Khan 409 

Tartar  Postilions 410 

Tartar  Palaces  in  Southern  Russia 411 

Gypsy  Family  at  Astrachan 412 

An  Oil-steamer  on  the  Caspian  Sea 413 

Tanks  at  a  Storage  Depot 413 

View  in  an  Oil  Region 414 

Bits  for  Drilling  Wells 415 

A  Spouting  Well 416 

Derrick    and    Tanks    in  the  American    Oil 

Region 417 

An  Oil  Refinery  with  Tank  Cars 419 

Tartar  Camel-cart  at  Baku 420 

Ancient  Mound  near  the  Caspian  Sea 421 

Curious  Rock  Formations 422 

Modern  Fire-worshippers  —  Parsee  Lady  and 

Daughter 423 

A  Burning  Tank 425 

A  Fall  in  Oil 426 

A  Rise  in  Oil 426 

Camp  Scene  near  the  Altai  Mountains 429 

A  Kalmuck  Priest 430 

Scene  on  the  Edge  of  the  Kirghese  Steppe. .  431 

Kirghese  Group    432 

Kirghese  Chief  and  Family 433 

Caravan  in  Russian  Territory 434 

Kirghese  Raid  on  a  Hostile  Tribe 436 

Lasgird — A   Fortified    Village    in    Northern 

Persia 438 

Tower  of  Refuge 439 

Framework  of  Turcoman  Tent 440 

The  Tent  Covered 440 

Interior  of  Tent 441 

Vambery's  Reception  by  Turcoman  Chief  on 

the  Caspian  Shore 442 


View  of  the  Citadel  of  Khiva 448 

An  Ozbek  Head 449 

Map  showing   the  Relations  of  Russia  and 

England  in  the  East 451 

Sand-storm  in  the  Desert 452 

Turcoman  Court  of  Justice 453 

Kirghese  Tomb 454 

Charge   of  Russian   Cavalry  against  Turco- 
mans    455 

Russian  Army  on  the  Turcoman  Steppes...  457 

Winter  Camp  in  Turcomania 459 

Turcoman  Irrigating  Wheel 460 

Scene  at  a  Ferry  on  the  Oxus 461 

Map  of  the  Russo-Afghan  Region 462 

Turcoman  Woman  Spinning 464 

Village  of  Turcoman  Tents 465 

The  New  Russo-Afghan  Frontier 466 

Old  Sarakhs 468 

Sarik  Turcoman  Woman 469 

Pul-i-Khisti  and  Ak  Tapa 470 

Penjdeh 471 

Colonel  iUikhanoff 472 

The  Great  Highway  of  Central  Asia 473 

Turcoman  Farm-yard 475 

Map  of  Turkestan,  showing  Route  of  Trans- 
Caspian  Railway 476 

Crossing  a  River  in  Central  Asia 478 

A  Native  Traveller 479 

Looking  down  on  the  Steppe 481 

View  of  Tiflis 483 

The  Pass  of  Dariel,  Caucasus 485 

Governor-general  of  the  Caucasus 486 

Ruined  Fortress  in  the  Caucasus 487 

Ruined  Church  near  Batoum 488 

Quarantine  Harbor,  Trebizond 489 

View  of  Erzeroom 490 

Turkish  Authority 492 

View  of  Sebastopol 495 

Ruins  of  the  Malakoff,  Sebastopol 496 

Russian  Carpenters  at  Work 498 

Cossacks  and  Chasseurs 499 

British  Soldiers  in  Camp oil) 

Alfred  Tennyson 502 

A  Broken  Tarantasse 503 

The  Bosporus 504 


Map  to  accompany  the  Boy  Travellers  in  the  Russian  Empire Front  Cover. 

Map  showing  the  Russian  Empire  Routes  as  Described  by  the  Boy  Travellers Back  Cover. 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS 

IN  THE 

RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DEPARTURE  FROM  VIENNA.  —  FRANK'S  LETTER.— A  FAREWELL  PROMENADE.— 
FROM  VIENNA  TO  CRACOW.— THE  GREAT  SALT-MINE  OF  WIELICZKA,  AND 
WHAT  WAS  SEEN  THERE.— CHURCHES  AND  PALACES  UNDERGROUND.— VOY- 
AGE ON  A  SUBTERRANEAN  LAKE. 

"  TTERE  are  the  passports  at  last." 

J- J-       "  Are  you  sure  they  are  quite  in 
order  for  our  journey  ?" 

"  Yes,  entirely  so,"  was  the  reply ;  "  the 
Secretary  of  Legation  examined  them  care- 
fully, and  said  we  should  have  no  trouble  at 
the  frontier." 

"Well,  then,"  a  cheery  voice  responded, 
"  we  have  nothing  more  to  do  until  the  depart- 
ure of  the  train.  Five  minutes  will  complete 
the  packing  of  our  baggage,  and  the  hotel  bill 
is  all  settled.  I  am  going  for  a  walk  through 
the  Graben,  and  will  be  back  in  an  hour." 
So  saying,  our  old  acquaintance,  Doctor  Bronson,  left  his  room  in  the 
Grand  Hotel  in  Vienna  and  disappeared  down  the  stairway.  He  was 
followed,  a  few  minutes  later,  by  his  nephew,  Fred  Bronson,  who  had 
just  returned  from  a  promenade,  during  which  he  had  visited  the  Ameri- 
can Legation  to  obtain  the  passports  which  were  the  subject  of  the  dia- 
logue just  recorded. 

At  the  door  of  the  hotel  he  was  joined  by  his  cousin,  Frank  Bassett. 
The  latter  proposed  a  farewell  visit  to  the   Church  of  St.  Stephen,  and 


FRED  S    REMINDER. 


16 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


also  a  short  stroll  in  the  Graben, 
where  he  wished  to  make  a  tri- 
fling purchase.  Fred  assented, 
and  they  started  at  once. 

They  had  not  gone  far  before 
Fred  perceived  at  a  window  the 
face  of  a  girl  busily  engaged  in 
writing.  He  paused  a  moment, 
and  then  suggested  to  Frank  that 
he  wished  to  return  to  the  hotel 
in  time  to  write  a  letter  to  his 
sister  before  the  closing  of  the 
mail.  "  I  really  believe,"  said  he, 
"that  I  should  have  neglected 
Mary  this  week  if  I  had  not  been 
reminded  by  that  girl  in  the  win- 
dow and  her  occupation." 

Frank  laughed  as  he  rejoined 
that  he  had  never  yet  known  his 
cousin  to  forget  his  duty,  and  it 


ST.    STEfHEN  S    CATHEDRAL,    VIENNA. 


FAREWELL   VIEW  OF   VIENNA. 


17 


would  have  been  pretty  sure  to  occur  to  him  that  he  owed  his  sister  a 
letter  before  it  was  too  late  for  writing  it. 

They  made  a  hasty  visit  to  the  church,  which  is  by  far  the  finest  relig- 
ious edifice  in  Vienna,  and  may  be  said  to  stand  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
city.  Fred  had  previously  made  a  note  of  the  fact  that  the  church  is 
more  than  seven  hundred  years  old,  and  has  been  rebuilt,  altered,  and  en- 
larged so  many  times  that  not  much  of  the  original  structure  remains. 
On  the  first  day  of  their  stay  in  Vienna  the  youths  had  climbed  to  the  top 
of  the  building  and  ascended  the  spire,  from  which  they  had  a  magnificent 


TIKW  OF  THK  PALACK  OF  CRACOW. 


view  of  the  city  and  the  country  which  surrounds  it.  The  windings  of 
the  Danube  are  visible  for  many  miles,  and  there  are  guides  ready  at  hand 
to  point  out  the  battle-fields  of  Wagram,  Lobau,  and  Essling.  Our  young 
friends  had  a  good-natured  discussion  about  the  height  of  the  spire  of  St. 
Stephen's ;  Frank  claimed  that  his  guide-book  gave  the  distance  from  the 
ground  to  the  top  of  the  cross  four  hundred  and  fifty-three  feet,  while 
Fred  contended,  on  the  authority  of  another  guide-book,  that  it  was  four 
hundred  and  sixty -five  feet.     Authorities  differ  considerably  as  to  the 

2 


18 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


exact  height  of  this  famous  spire,  which  does  not  appear  to  have  received 
a  careful  measurement  for  a  good  many  years. 

From  the  church  the  youths  went  to  the  Graben,  the  famous  street 
where  idlers  love  to  congregate  on  pleasant  afternoons,  and  then  they  re- 
turned to  the  hotel.  Fred  devoted 
himself  to  the  promised  letter  to  his 
sister.  With  his  permission  we  will 
look  over  his  shoulder  as  he  writes, 
and  from  the  closing  paragraph  learn 
the  present  destination  of  our  old 
friends  with  whom  we  have  travelled 
in  other  lands.* 

"  YVre  have  been  here  a  week,  and 
like  Vienna  very  much,  but  are  quite 
willing  to  leave  the  city  for  the  in- 
teresting tour  we  have  planned.  We 
start  this  evening  by  the  Northern 
Railway  for  a  journey  to  and  through 
Russia ;  our  first  stopping-place  will 
be  at  the  nearest  point  on  the  rail- 
way for  reaching  the  famous  salt-mines  of  Wieliczka.  You  must  pro- 
nounce it  "We-ZeVe^-ka,  with  the  accent  on  the  second  syllable.  Fll  write 
you  from  there ;  or,  if  I  don't  have  time  to  do  so  at  the  mines,  will  send 
you  a  letter  from  the  first  city  where  we  stop  for  more  than  a  single 
day.  "We  have  just  had  our  passports  indorsed  by  the  Russian  minister 
for  Austria — a  very  necessary  proceeding,  as  it  is  impossible  to  get  into 
Russia  without  these  documents.     Until  I  next  write  you,  good-by." 

The  travellers  arrived  at  the  great  ^Northern  Railway  station  of 
Vienna  in  ample  season  to  take  their  tickets  and  attend  to  the  regis- 
tration of  their  baggage.  The  train  carried  them  swiftly  to  Cracow — a 
city  which  has  had  a  prominent  place  in  Polish  annals.  It  was  the  scene 
of  several  battles,  and  was  for  a  long  time  the  capital  of  the  ancient  king- 
dom of  Poland.  Frank  made  the  following  memoranda  in  his  note- 
book: 

•'  Cracow  is  a  city  of  about  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  of  whom  nearly 


KOSCIUSKO,  1 777. 


*  "The  Boy  Travellers  in  the  Far  East"  (five  volumes)  and  "The  Boy  Travellers  in 
South  America  "  (one  volume).  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  to  and  through 
Japan,  China,  Siam,  Java,  Ceylon,  India,  Egypt.  Palestine,  Central  Africa,  Peru,  Bolivia, 
Chili,  Brazil,  and  the  Argentine  Republic.     New  Y'ork.     Harper  &  Brothers. 


SIGHTS   IN   CRACOW. 


19 


one-third  are  Israelites.  It  stands  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Vistula,  on  a 
beautiful  plain  surrounded  by  hills  which  rise  in  the  form  of  an  amphi- 
theatre. In  the  old  part  of  the  city  the  streets  are  narrow  and  dark,  and 
cannot  be  praised  for  their  cleanliness ;  but  the  new  part,  which  lies  out- 
side the  ancient  defences,  is  quite  attractive.  The  palace  is  ou  the  bank 
of  the  river,  and  was  once  very  pretty.  The  Austrians  have  converted  it 
into  a  military  barrack,  after  strip- 
ping it  of  all  its  ornaments,  so  that 
it  is  now  hardly  worth  seeing. 
There  are  many  fine  churches  in 
Cracow,  but  we  have  only  had  time 
to  visit  one  of  them  —  the  cathe- 
dral. 

"  In  the  cathedral  we  saw  the 
tombs  of  many  of  the  men  whose 
names  are  famous  in  Polish  his- 
tory. Polish  kings  and  queens  al- 
most by  the  dozen  are  buried  here, 
and  there  is  a  fine  monument  to  the 
memory  of  St.  Stanislaus.  His  re- 
mains are  preserved  in  a  silver 
coffin,  and  are  the  object  of  rever- 
ence on  the  i)art  of  those  who  still 
dream  of  the  ultimate  liberation  of 
Poland,  and  its  restoration  to  its  old 
place  among  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world. 

"We  drove  around  the  princi- 
pal streets  of  Cracow,  and  then  out  to  the  tumulus  erected  to  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Polish  patriot.  Kosciusko.  You  remember  the  lines  in  our 
school  reader, 

"  'Hope  for  a  season  bade  the  world  farewell, 
And  freedom  shrieked  as  Kosciusko  fell.' 


KOSCIUSKO,    1817. 


"  "We  were  particularly  desirous  to  see  this  mound.  It  was  made  of 
earth  brought  from  all  the  patriotic  battle-fields  of  Poland  at  an  enormous 
expense,  which  was  largely  borne  by  the  people  of  Cracow.  The  monu- 
ment is  altogether  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  is  just  inside  the 
line  of  fortifications  which  have  been  erected  around  the  city.  The  Aus- 
trians say  these  fortifications  are  intended  to  keep  out  the  Eussians  ;  but 


20 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


it  is  just  as  likely  that  they  are  intended  to  keep  the  Poles  from  making 
one  of  the  insurrections  for  which  they  have  shown  so  great  an  incli- 
nation .during  the  past  two  or  three  centuries. 

"  As  we  contemplated  the  monument  to  the  famous  soldier  of  Poland, 
we  remembered  his  services  during  our  Revolutionary  war.  Kosciusko 
entered  the  American  army  in  1776  as  an  officer  of  engineers,  and  i-e- 
mained  with  General  Washington  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  planned 
the  fortified  camp  near  Saratoga,  and  also  the  works  at  West  Point. 
When  our  independence  was  achieved  he  returned  to  Poland,  and  after 
fighting  for  several  years  in  the  cause  of  his  country,  he  made  a  brief  visit 
to  America,  where  he  received  much  distinction.  Then  he  returned  aerain 
to  Euroj)e,  lived  for  a  time  in  France,  and  afterwards  in   Switzerland, 


CHURCH    OF   ST.   MAKY,   CRACOW. 


where  he  died  in  1S17.  The  monument  we  have  just  visited  does  not 
cover  his  grave,  as  he  was  buried  with  much  ceremony  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Cracow." 

"Why  don't  you  say  something  about  the  Jewish  quarter  of  Cracow," 
said  Fred,  when  Frank  read  what  he  had  written,  and  which  we  have 
given  above. 

"  I'll  leave  that  for  you,"  was  the  reply.  "  You  may  write  the  descrip- 
tion while  I  make  some  sketches." 


THE   JEWS'  QUARTER  IN  CRACOW. 


21 


"I'm  agreed,"  responded  Fred.  "Let's  go  over  the  ground  together 
and  pick  out  what  is  the  most  interesting." 

Away  they  went,  leaving  Doctor  Bronson  with  a  gentleman  with  whom 
he  had  formed  an  acquaintance  during  their  ride  from  the  railway  to  the 
hotel.  The  Doctor  was  not  partial  to  a  walk  in  the  Jews'  quarter,  and 
said  he  was  willing  to  take  his  knowledge  of  it  at  second-hand. 

On  their  way  thither  the  youths  stopped  a  few  minutes  to  look  at  the 
Church  of  St.  Mary,  which  was  built  in  1276,  and  is  regarded  as  a  fine 
specimen  of  Gothic  architecture.     It  is  at  one  side  of  the  market-place, 
and  presents  a  picturesque  appear- 
ance   as    the   beholder    stands    in 
front  of  it. 

The  Jews'  quarter  is  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  river  from  the 
principal  part  of  the  city,  and  is 
reached  by  a  bridge  over  the  Vis- 
tula. At  every  step  the  youths 
were  beset  by  beggars.  They  had 
taken  a  guide  from  the  hotel,  un- 
der the  stipulation  that  he  should 
not  permit  the  beggars  to  annoy 
them,  but  they  soon  found  it  would 
be  impossible  to  secure  immunity 
from  attack  without  a  cordon  of 
at  least  a  dozen  guides.  Frank 
pronounced  the  beggars  of  Cracow 
the  most  forlorn  he  had  ever  seen, 
and  Fred  thought  they  were  more 
numerous  in  proportion  to  the 
population  than  in  any  other  city, 
with  the  possible  exception  of 
Naples.    Their  ragged  and  starved 

condition  indicated  that  their  distress  was  real,  and  more  than  once  our 
young  friends  regretted  having  brought  themselves  face  to  face  with  so 
much  misery  that  they  were  powerless  to  relieve. 

Frank  remarked  that  there  was  a  similarity  of  dress  among  the  Jews 
of  Cracow,  as  they  all  wore  long  caftans,  or  robes,  reaching  nearly  to  the 
heels.  The  wealthy  Jews  wear  robes  of  silk,  with  fur  caps  or  turbans, 
while  the  poorer  ones  must  content  themselves  with  cheaper  material, 
according  to  their  ability.     The  guide  told  the  youths  that  the  men  of 


POLISH    JEW    OF    HIGH    RANK. 


22 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


rank  would  not  surround  their  waists  with  girdles  as  did  the  humbler 
Jews,  and  that  sometimes  the  robes  of  the  rich  were  lined  with  sable,  at  a 
cost  of  many  hundreds  of  dollars. 

Fred  carefully  noted  the  information  obtained  while  Frank  made  the 
sketches  he  had  promised  to  produce.     They  are  by  no  means  unlike  the 


POLISH    JEWS    OF   THE    MIDDLE   CLASS. 


sketches  that  were  made  by  another  American  traveller  (Mr.  J.  Eoss 
Browne),  who  visited  Cracow  several  years  before  the  journey  of  our 
friends. 

"  But  there's  one  thing  we  can't  sketch,  and  can't  describe  in  writing,'' 
said  Fred, "  and  that's  the  dirt  in  the  streets  of  this  Jews'  cpiarter  of  Cra- 
cow.    If  Doctor  Branson  knew  of  it  I  don't  wonder  he  declined  to  come 


GOING  TO  THE   SALT-MINES. 


23 


with  ns.  No  attempt  is  made  to  keep  the  place  clean,  and  it  seems  a  pity 
that  the  authorities  do  not  force  the  people  into  better  ways.  It's  as  bad 
as  any  part  of  Canton  or  Peking,  and  that's  saying  a  great  deal.  I  won- 
der they  don't  die  of  cholera,  and  leave  the  place  without  inhabitants." 

In  spite  of  all  sorts  of  oppression,  the  Jews  of  Cracow  preserve  their 
distinctiveness,  and  there  are  no  more  devout  religionists  in  the  world 
than  this  people.  The  greater  part  of  the  commerce  of  the  city  is  in 
their  hands,  and  they  are  said  to  have  a  vast  amount  of  wealth  in  their 
possession.  That  they  have  a  large  share  of  business  was  noticed  by  Fred, 
who  said  that  from  the  moment  they  alighted  from  the  train  at  the  rail- 
way-station they  were  pestered  by  peddlers,  guides,  money-changers,  run- 
ners for  shops,  beggars,  and  all  sorts  of  importunate  people  from  the  quar- 
ter of  the  city  over  the  Vistula.  An  hour  in  the  Jews'  quarter  gratified 
their  curiosity,  and  they  returned  to  the  hotel. 

There  is  a  line  of  railway  to  the  salt-mines,  but  our  friends  preferred 
to  go  in  a  carriage,  as  it  would  afford  a  better  view  of  the  country,  and 
enable  them  to  arrange  the  time  to 
suit  themselves.  The  distance  is 
about  nine  miles,  and  the  road  is 
well  kept,  so  that  they  reached  the 
mines  in  little  more  than  an  hour 
from  the  time  of  leaving  the  ho- 
tel. The  road  is  through  an  undu- 
lating country,  which  is  prettily  dot- 
ted with  farms,  together  with  the 
summer  residences  of  some  of  the 
wealthier  inhabitants  of  Cracow. 

On  reaching  the  mines  they 
went  immediately  to  the  offices, 
where  it  was  necessary  to  obtain 
permission  to.  descend  into  the 
earth.  These  offices  are  in  an  old 
castle  formerly  belonging  to  one  of 
the  native  princes,  but  long  ago 
turned  into  its  present  practical 
uses.  Our  friends  were  accom- 
panied by  a  commissioner  from  the 
hotel  where  they  were  lodged  in 
Cracow  ;  he  was  a  dignified  individual,  who  claimed  descent  from  one  of 
the  noble  families  of  Poland,  and  the  solemnity  of  his  visage  was  increased 


OCR    GUIDE    IN    COSTUME 


24 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


by  a  huge  pair  of  spectacles  that  spanned  his  nose.  Frank  remarked  that 
spectacles  were  in  fashion  at  "Wieliczka,  as  at  least  half  the  officials  con- 
nected with  the  management  of  the  salt-mines  were  ornamented  with 
these  aids  to  vision. 

A  spectacled  clerk  entered  the  names  of  the  visitors  in  a  register  kept 
for  the  purpose,  and  issued  the  tickets  permitting  them  to  enter  the 
mines.  Armed  with  their  tickets, 
they  were  conducted  to  a  building 
close  to  the  entrance  of  one  of  the 
mines,  and  ushered  into  the  pres- 
ence of  the  inspector-general  of  the 
works.  He  was  also  a  wearer  of  spec- 
tacles, and  the  rotundity  of  his  fig- 
ure indicated  that  the  air  and  food 
of  the  place  had  not  injured  him. 

"  The  inspector-general  received 
us  politely — in  fact  everybody  about 
the  place  was  polite  enough  for  the 
most  fastidious  taste,"  said  Frank  in 
his  note- book — "and  after  a  short 
conversation  he  called  our  attention 
to  the  robes  which  had  been  worn 
by  imperial  and  royal  visitors  to 
the  mines.  The  robes  are  richly 
embroidered,  and  every  one  bears 
a  label  telling  when  and  by  whom 
it  was  worn.  The  inspector-general 
treated  the  garments  with  almost  as 

much  reverence  as  he  would  have  shown  to  the  personages  named  on  the 
labels.  We  realized  that  it  was  proper  to  regard  them  with  respect,  if  we 
wished  to  have  the  good-will  of  this  important  official,  and  therefore  we 
appeared  to  be  dumb  with  amazement  as  he  went  through  the  list.  When 
the  examination  was  ended  we  were  provided  with  garments  for  the  de- 
scent. Evidently  we  were  not  regarded  with  the  same  awe  as  were  the 
kings  and  emperors  that  had  preceded  us,  as  our  robes  were  of  a  very 
common  sort.  They  were  like  dressing-gowns,  and  reached  nearly  to  our 
heels,  and  our  heads  were  covered  with  small  woollen  caps.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve they  were  labelled  with  our  names  and  kept  in  glass  cases  after  our 
departure. 

'•  I  made  a  sketch  of  our  guide  after  he  was  arrayed   in  his   under- 


!W*W££«^I 


THE   INSPECTOR-GENERAL. 


DESCENDING  THE   SHAFT.  25 

ground  costume  and  ready  to  start.  Fred  sketched  the  inspector-general 
while  the  latter  was  talking  to  the  Doctor.  The  portrait  isn't  a  bad  one, 
but  I  think  he  has  exaggerated  somewhat  the  rotund  figure  of  the  affable 
official. 

"  From  the  office  we  went  to  the  entrance  of  one  of  the  shafts.  It  is 
in  a  large  building,  which  contains  the  hoisting  apparatus,  and  is  also  used 
as  a  storehouse.  Sacks  and  barrels  of  salt  were  piled  there  awaiting  trans- 
portation to  market,  and  in  front  of  the  building  there  were  half  a  dozen 
wagons  receiving  the  loads  which  they  were  to  take  to  the  railway-station. 
The  hoisting  apparatus  is  an  enormous  wheel  turned  by  horse-power  ;  the 
horses  walk  around  in  a  circle,  as  in  the  old-fashioned  cider-mill  of  the 
Northern  States,  or  the  primitive  cotton-gin  of  the  South.  Our  guide 
said  there  were  more  than  twenty  of  these  shafts,  and  there  was  also  a 
stairway,  cut  in  the  solid  earth  and  salt,  extending  to  the  bottom  of  the 
mine.  We  had  proposed  to  descend  by  the  stairway,  but  the  commis- 
sioner strenuously  advised  against  our  doing  so.  He  said  the  way  was 
dark  and  the  steps  were  slippery,  as  they  were  wet  in  many  places  from 
the  water  trickling  through  the  earth.  His  arguments  appeared  reason- 
able, and  so  we  went  by  the  shaft. 

"  The  rope  winds  around  a  drum  on  the  shaft  supporting  the  wheel, 
and  then  passes  through  a  pulley  directly  over  the  place  where  we  were 
to  descend.  The  rope  is  fully  two  inches  in  diameter,  and  was  said  to  be 
capable  of  bearing  ten  times  the  weight  that  can  ever  be  placed  upon 
it  in  ordinary  use.  It  is  examined  every  morning,  and  at  least  once  a 
week  it  is  tested  with  a  load  of  at  least  four  times  that  which  it  ordi- 
narily carries.  When  it  shows  any  sign  of  wear  it  is  renewed  ;  and 
judging  from  all  we  could  see,  the  managers  take  every  precaution  against 
accidents. 

"  Smaller  ropes  attached  to  the  main  one  have  seats  at  the  ends.  There 
are  two  clusters  of  these  ropes,  about  twenty  feet  apart,  the  lower  one 
being  intended  for  the  guides  and  lamp-bearers,  and  the  upper  for  visitors 
and  officials.  Six  of  us  were  seated  in  the  upper  group.  It  included  our 
party  of  four  and  two  subordinate  officials,  who  accompanied  us  on  our 
journey  and  received  fees  on  our  return  ;  but  I  suppose  they  would  scorn 
to  be  called  guides. 

"  There  is  a  heavy  trap-door  over  the  mouth  of  the  shaft,  and  the 
rope  plays  freely  through  it.  The  guides  and  lamp-bearers  took  their 
places  at  the  end  of  the  rope;  then  the  door  was  opened  and  they  were 
lowered  down,  and  the  door  closed  above  them.  This  brought  the  upper 
cluster  of  ropes  in  position  for  us  to  take  our  places,  which  we  did  under 


26  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

■lllllH.'lll  lllllll,  _ 


the  direction  of  the  officials  who  accompanied  us.  "When 
all  was  ready  the  signal  was  given,  the  trap -door  was 
opened  once  more,  and  we  began  our  downward  journey 
into  the  earth. 

"  As  the  trap  -  door  closed  above  us,  I  confess  to  a 
rather  uncanny  feeling.  Below  us  gleamed  the  lights  in 
the  hands  of  the  lamp  -  bearers,  but  above  there  was  a 
darkness  that  seemed  as  though  it  might  be  felt,  or 
sliced  off  with  a  knife.  Nobody  spoke,  and  the  attention 
of  all  seemed  to  be  directed  to  hanging  on  to  the  rope. 
Of  course  the  uppermost  question  in  everybody's  mind 
was, 'What  if  the  rope  should  break?5  It  doesn't  take 
long  to  answer  it ;  the  individuals  hanging  in  that  cluster 
below  the  gloomy  trap-door  would  be  of  very  little  con- 
secpienee  in  a  terrestrial  way  after  the  snapping  of  the 
rope. 

"We  compared  notes  afterwards,  and  found  that  our 
sensations  were  pretty  much  alike.  The  general  feeling 
was  one  of  uncertainty,  and  each  one  asked  himself  sev- 
eral times  whether  he  was  asleep  or  awake.  Fred  said  a 
part  of  the  journey  was  like  a  nightmare,  and  the  Doc- 
tor said  he  had  the  same  idea,  especially  after  the  noise 
of  the  machinery  was  lost  in  the  distance  and  everything 
was  in  utter  silence.  For  the  first  few  moments  we 
could  hear  the  whirring  of  the  wheel  and  the  jar  of  the 
machinery ;  but  very  soon  these  sounds  disappeared,  and 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS  UNDERGROUND. 


27 


we  glided  gently  downward,  without  the  least  sensation  of  being  in  mo- 
tion. It  seemed  to  me  not  that  we  were  descending,  but  that  the  walls 
of  the  shaft  were  rising  around  us,  while  our  position  was  stationary. 

"  Contrary  to  expectation,  we  found  the  air  quite  agreeable.  The  offi- 
cial who  accompanied  us  said  it  was  peculiarly  conducive  to  health ;  and 
many  of  the  employes  of  the  mines  had  been  at  work  there  forty  or  rifty 


DESCENDING    THE    SHAFT. 


years,  and  had  never  lost  a  day  from  illness.  "We  had  supposed  it  would 
be  damp  and  cold,  but,  on  the  contrary,  found  it  dry  and  of  an  agreea- 
ble temperature,  which  remains  nearly  the  same  all  through  the  year.  JSTo 
doubt  the  salt  has  much  to  do  with  this  healthy  condition.     Occasionally 


28  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

hydrogen  gas  collects  in  some  of  the  shafts  which  are  not  properly  venti- 
lated, and  there  have  been  explosions  of  fire-damp  which  destroyed  a  good 
many  lives.     These  accidents  were  the  result  of  carelessness  either  of  the 


LAMf-BEARERS. 


miners  or  their  superintendents,  and  since  their  occurrence  a  more  rigid 
system  of  inspection  has  been  established. 

"  We  stopped  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  which  is  about  three  hundred 
feet  deep ;  there  we  were  released  from  our  fastenings  and  allowed  to  use 
our  feet  again.  Then  we  were  guided  through  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  pas- 
sages, up  and  down  ladders,  along  narrow  paths,  into  halls  spacious  enough 
for  the  reception  of  an  emperor,  and  again  into  little  nooks  where  men 


A   SUBTERRANEAN   CITY. 


29 


were  occupied  in  excavating  the  salt.  For  several  hours  we  wandered 
there,  losing  all  knowledge  of  the  points  of  compass,  and  if  we  had  been 
left  to  ourselves  our  chances  of  emerging  again  into  daylight  would  have 
been  utterly  hopeless. 

"And  here  let  me  give  you  a  few  figures  about  the  salt-mines  of 
Wieliczka.  I  cannot  promise  that  they  are  entirely  accurate,  but  they  are 
drawn  from  the  best  sources  within  our  reach.  Some  were  obtained  from 
the  under-officials  of  the  mines  who  accompanied  us,  and  others  are  taken 
from  the  work  of  previous  writers  on  this  subject. 

"  The  salt-mine  may  be  fairly  regarded  as  a  city  under  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  as  it  shelters  about  a  thousand  workmen,  and  contains  chapels, 
churches,  railways,  stables,  and  other  appurtenances  of  a  place  where  men 
dwell.  In  fact  it  is  a  series  of  cities,  one  above  the  other,  as  there  are 
four  tiers  of  excavations,  the  first 
being  about  two  hundred  feet  below 
the  surface,  and  the  lowest  nearly 
two  thousand.  The  subterranean 
passages  and  halls  are  named  after 
various  kings  and  emperors  who 
have  visited  them,  or  who  were  fa- 
mous at  the  time  the  passages  were 
opened,  and  altogether  they  cover 
an  area  of  several  square  miles.  In 
a  general  way  the  salt  -  mines  of 
Wieliczka  may  be  said  to  be  near- 
ly two  miles  square ;  but  the  ends 
of  some  of  the  passages  are  more 
than  two  miles  from  the  entrance 
of  the  nearest  shaft.  The  entire 
town  of  Wieliczka  lies  above  the 
mines  which  give  occupation  to  its 
inhabitants. 

"  There  is  probably  more  tim- 
ber beneath  the  surface  at  Wie- 
liczka than  above  it,  as  the  roofs 
of  the  numerous  passages  are  sup- 

ported  by  heavy  beams ;  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  smaller  halls. 
In  the  larger  halls  such  support  would  be  insufficient,  and  immense  col- 
umns of  salt  are  left  in  position.  In  several  instances  these  pillars  of 
salt  have  been  replaced  by  columns  of  brick  or  stone,  as  they  would  be 


A    FOOT-PATH. 


3U  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

liable  to  be  melted  away  during  any  accidental  flooding  of  the  mine, 
and  allow  the  entire  upper  strata  to  tumble  in.  This  has  actually  hap- 
pened on  one  occasion,  when  a  part  of  the  mine  was  flooded  and  serious 
damage  resulted. 

"  Our  guide  said  the  length  of  the  passages,  galleries,  and  halls  was 
nearly  four  hundred  English  miles,  and  the  greatest  depth  reached  was 
two  thousand  four  hundred  feet.  If  we  should  visit  all  the  galleries  aud 
passages,  and  examine  every  object  of  interest  in  the  mines,  we  should  be 
detained  there  at  least  three  weeks.  Not  a  single  one  of  all  the  workmen 
had  been  in  every  part  of  all  the  galleries  of  the  mine,  and  he  doubted  if 
there  was  any  officer  attached  to  the  concern  who  would  not  be  liable  to 
be  lost  if  left  to  himself. 

"  Nobody  knows  when  these  mines  were  discovered ;  they  were  worked 
in  the  eleventh  century,  when  they  belonged  to  the  kingdom  of  Poland, 
and  an  important  revenue  was  derived  from  them.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  Casimir  the  Great  established  elaborate  regulations  for  working 
the  mines,  and  his  regulations  are  the  basis  of  those  which  are  still  in 
force,  in  spite  of  numerous  changes.  In  1656  they  were  pledged  to  Aus- 
tria, but  were  redeemed  by  John  Sobieski  in  16S3.  When  the  first  par- 
tition of  Poland  took  place,  in  1772,  they  were  handed  over  to  Austria, 
■which  has  had  possession  of  them  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  the 
short  period  from  1809  to  1S15. 

"  While  the  mines  belonged  to  Poland  the  kings  of  that  country  ob- 
tained a  large  revenue  from  them.  For  two  or  three  centuries  this  revenue 
was  sufficiently  large  to  serve  for  the  endowment  of  convents  and  the 
dowries  of  the  members  of  the  royal  family.  The  Austrian  Government 
has  obtained  a  considerable  revenue  from  these  mines,  but  owing-  to  the 
modern  competition  with  salt  from  other  sources,  it  does  not  equal  the 
profit  of  the  Polish  kings. 

"  Except  when  reduced  by  accidents  or  other  causes,  the  annual  pro- 
duction of  salt  in  these  mines  is  about  two  hundred  millions  of  pounds,  or 
one  hundred  thousand  tons.  The  deposit  is  known  to  extend  a  long  dis- 
tance, and  the  Government  might,  if  it  wished,  increase  the  production  to 
any  desired  amount.  But  it  does  not  consider  it  judicious  to  do  so,  and  is 
content  to  keep  the  figures  about  where  they  have  been  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century.  The  salt  supplies  a  considerable  area  of  country ; 
a  large  amount,  usually  of  the  lower  grades,  is  sent  into  Russia,  and  the 
finer  qualities  are  shipped  to  various  parts  of  the  Austrian  Empire. 

"  We  asked  if  the  workmen  lived  in  the  mines,  as  was  currently  re- 
ported, and  were  told  they  did  not.     '  They  would  not  be  allowed  to  do 


SALT-MIXERS  AT  WORK.  31 

so,  even  if  they  wished  it,'  said  our  guide.  '  By  the  rules  of  the  direction 
the  men  are  divided  into  gangs,  working  eight  hours  each,  and  all  are  re- 
quired to  go  to  the  surface  when  not  on  duty.  In  ancient  times  it  was 
doubtless  the  case  that  men  lived  here  with  their  families.     At  one  time 


AN    UNDERGROUND    CHAPEL. 


the  mines  were  worked  by  prisoners,  who  did  not  see  daylight  for  months 
together,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  has  occurred  for  more  than  a  cen- 
tury at  least.' 

"  Several  times  in  our  walk  we  came  upon  little  groups  of  men  work- 
ing in  the  galleries;  and  certainly  they  were  not  to  be  envied.  Some- 
times they  were  cutting  with  picks  against  perpendicular  walls,  and  at 
others  they  were  lying  flat  on  their  backs,  digging  away  at  the  roof  not 


32 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS   IX   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


more  than  a  foot  or  two  above  their  heads.  The  shaggy  lamp-bearers — 
generally  old  men  unable  to  perform  heavy  work — stood  close  at  hand, 
and  the  glare  of  the  light  falling  upon  the  flashing  crystals  of  salt  that 
flew  in  the  air,  and  covered  the  half-naked  bodies  of  the  perspiring  work- 
men, made  a  picture  which  I  cannot  adequately  describe.  I  do  not  know 
that  I  ever  looked  upon  a  spectacle  more  weird  than  this. 

"  We  had  expected  to  see  the  men  in  large  gangs,  but  found  that  they 


MEN    CCTTI.NG    SALT    IN    THE    MINE. 


were  nearly  always  divided  into  little  groups.  One  would  think  they 
would  prefer  any  other  kind  of  occupation  than  this,  but  our  guide  told 
us  that  the  laborers  were  perfectly  free  to  leave  at  any  time,  just  as 
though  they  were  in  the  employ  of  a  private  establishment.  There  were 
plenty  of  men  who  would  gladly  fill  their  places,  and  frequently  they  had 
applications  for  years  in  advance.  As  prices  go  in  Austria,  the  pay  is 
very  good,  the  men  averaging  from  twenty  to  fifty  cents  a  day.  As  far 
as  possible  they  are  paid  by  the  piece,  and  not  by  time — the  same  as  in 
the  great  majority  of  mines  all  over  the  world. 

"  But  the  horses  which  draw  the  cars  on  the  subterranean  railwavs  are 


UNDERGROUND  HALLS.- 


33 


not  regarded  with  the  same  care  as  the  men.  They  never  return  to  the 
light  of  day  after  once  heing  lowered  into  the  mine.  In  a  few  weeks 
after  arriving  there  a  cataract  covers  their  eyes  and  the  sight  disap- 
pears. By  some  this  result  is  attributed  to  the  perpetual  darkness,  and 
by  others  to  the  effect  of  the  salt.  It  is  probably  due  to  the  former,  as 
the  workmen  do  not  appear  to  suffer  in  the  same  way.  Whether  they 
would  become  blind  if  continually  kept  there  is  not  known,  aud  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  no  cruel  overseer  will  endeavor  to  ascertain  by  a  practical 
trial. 

"  Every  time  we  came  upon  a  group  of  workmen  they  paused  in  their 
labors  and  begged  for  money.  We  had  provided  ourselves  with  an  abun- 
dance of  copper  coins  before  descending  into  the  mine,  aud  it  was  well  we 
did  so,  as  they  generally  became  clamorous  until  obtaining  what  they 
wanted.  Fortunately  they  were  satisfied  with  a  small  coin,  and  did  not 
annoy  us  after  once  being  paid.- 

"  I  cannot  begin  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  halls,  galleries,  and  pas- 
sages we  went  through,  and  if  1  did,  it  would  be  tedious.  We  wandered 
up  and  down,  down  aud  up,  forward  and  backward,  until  it  seemed  as  if 
there  was  no  end  to  the  journey.  And  to  think  we  might  have  been 
there  three  weeks  without  once  repeating  our  steps !  I  will  mention  at 
random  some  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  things  we  saw.     To  tell  the 


FINISHING    THE    COLUMNS. 


whole  story  and  give  a  full  description  of  this  most  wonderful  salt-mine 
in  the  world  would  require  a  volume. 

"  The  chamber  of  Michelwic  was  the  first  of  the  large  halls  that  we 
entered,  and  was  reached  after  a  long  journey  through  winding  passages 
and  along  foot-paths  that  sometimes  overhung  places  where  it  was  impos- 
sible for  the  eye,  aided  only  by  the  light  of  the  lamps,  to  ascertain  the 

3  *" 


34 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


depth  of  the  openings  below.  In  some  of  the  dangerous  places  there  was 
a  rail  to  prevent  one  from  falling  over ;  but  this  was  not  always  the  case, 
and  you  may  be  sure  we  kept  on  the  safe  side  and  close  to  the  wall. 

"  In  the  hall  we  were  treated  to  a  song  by  one  of  the  mining  over- 
seers, an  old  soldier  who  had  lost  an  arm  in  some  way  that  was  not  ex- 
plained to  us.  He  had  an  excellent  voice  that  ought  to  have  secured  him 
a  good  place  in  the  chorus  of  an  opera  troupe.  He  sang  a  mining  song 
in  quite  a  melodramatic  style ;  and  as  he  did  so  the  notes  echoed  and  re- 
echoed through  the  hall  till  it  seemed  they  would  never  cease.  In  the 
centre  of  the  hall  is  a  chandelier  cut  from  the  solid  salt,  and  on  grand  oc- 


SUBTKRRANEAN    STABLES. 


casions  this  chandelier  is  lighted  and  a  band  of  music  is  stationed  at  one 
end  of  the  vast  space.  Its  effect  is  said  to  be  something  beyond  descrip- 
tion, and,  judging  from  the  effect  of  the  overseer's  voice,  I  can  well  be- 
lieve it. 

"  From  this  hall  we  went  through  a  series  of  chambers  and  galleries 
named  after  the  royal  and  imperial  families  of  Poland  and  Austria,  pass- 
ing chapels,  shrines,  altars,  and  other  things  indicating  the  religious  char- 
acter of  the  people  employed  in  the  mines  or  controlling  them,  together 


SUBTERRANEAN   FIREWORKS. 


with  many  niches  containing  statues  of  kings,  saints,  and  martyrs,  all  hewn 
from  the  solid  salt.  Some  of  the  statues  are  rudely  made,  but  the  most 
of  them  are  well  designed  and  executed.  In  some  of  the  chapels  wor- 
shippers were  kneeling  before  the  altars,  and  it  was  difficult  to  realize  that 
we  were  hundreds  of  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

"  By-and-by  our  guide  said  we  were  coming  to  the  Infernal  Lake. 
The  lamp-bearers  held  their  lights  high  in  the  air,  and  we  could  see  the 
reflection  from  a  sheet  of  water,  but  how  great  might  be  its  extent  was 
impossible  to  guess.  As  we  approached  the  edge  of  the  water  a  boat 
emerged  from  the  gloom  and  came  towards  us.  It  was  a  sort  of  rope 
ferry,  and  we  immediately  thought 
of  the  ferry-boat  which  the  an- 
cients  believed  was  employed  to 
carry  departed  spirits  across  the 
river  Styx.  Certainly  the  darkness 
all  around  was  Stygian,  and  the 
men  on  the  boat  might  have  been 
Charon's  attendants. 

"  We  passed  down  a  few  steps, 
entered  the  boat,  and  were  pulled 
away  from  shore.  In  less  than  a 
minute  nothing  but  the  little  circle 
of  water  around  us  was  visible ;  the 
sides  of  the  cavern  echoed  our 
voices  and  every  other  sound  that 
came  from  our  boat.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  the  lake  we  paused  to  ob- 
serve the  effect  of  the  sound  caused 
by  the  waves  created  by  the  rock- 
ing of  the  boat.  It  reverberated 
through  the  cavern  and  away  into 
the  galleries,  and  seemed  as  though 
it  would  last  forever.     "When  this 

sensation  was  exhausted  we  moved  on  again.  Doctor  Bronson  asked  the 
guide  how  far  it  was  to  the  other  end  of  the  lake,  but  before  the  answer 
was  spoken  Ave  had  a  fresh  surprise. 

"  There  was  a  flash  of  light  from  a  point  high  above  us,  and  almost  at 
the  same  instant  another,  a  little  distance  ahead.  The  latter  assumed  the 
form  of  an  arch  in  red  fire,  displaying  the  greeting  '  Gluck-auf  !'  or  '  Good- 
lttck  !'  though  this  is  not  the  literal  translation.     "We  passed  under  this 


A    MINING    SINGKK. 


36 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


'GLUCK-AUF! 


arch  of  red  fire,  and  as  we  did  so  the  words  '  Gliick-auf !  Gliick-auf !'  were 
shouted  from  all  around,  and  at  the  same  time  flashes  of  fire  burst  from  a 
dozen  places  above  the  lake.  We  shouted  '  Gliick-auf !'  in  reply,  and  then 
the  voices  from  the  mysterious  recesses  seemed  to  be  quadrupled  in  num- 
ber and  volume.  The  air  was  filled  with  flashes  of  light,  and  was  every- 
where resonant  with  the  words  of  the  miners'  welcome. 

"At  the  other  end  of  the  lake  there  was  a  considerable  party  waiting 
to  receive  us,  and  of  course  there  was  a  liberal  distribution  of  coin  to  ev- 
erybody.    I  ought  to  have  said  at  the  outset  that  we  arranged  to  pay  for 


FESTIVAL  IN  THE   MINE.  37 

the  illumination  of  the  lake  and  also  of  certain  specified  halls,  in  addition 
to  the  compensation  of  the  guides.  The  illuminations  are  entirely  pro- 
portioned to  the  amount  that  the  visitors  are  willing  to  give  for  them.  It 
is  a  good  plan  to  unite  with  other  visitors,  and  then  the  individual  cost 
will  not  be  heavy.  Twenty  dollars  will  pay  for  a  very  good  illumination, 
and  fifty  dollars  will  secure  something  worthy  of  a  prince,  though  not  a 
first-class  one. 

"  They  showed  us  next  through  more  winding  passages,  and  came  at 
length  to  the  Grand  Saloon  of  Entertainment ;  which  is  of  immense  ex- 


k£tk  in  the  grand  saloon  of  entertainment. 


tent,  and  has  no  less  than  six  large  chandeliers  hanging  from  the  roof.     It 
is  lighted  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  a  king  or  emperor  (of  course  he 


3S 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


has  to  pay  the  bill),  and  the  effect  is  said  to  be  wonderful.  There  is  an 
alcove  at  one  end,  with  a  throne  of  green  and  ruby-colored  salt,  whereon 
the  emperor  is  seated.     A  blaze  of  light  all  through  the  hall  is  reflected 

from  the  myriad  crystals  of  salt 
which  form  the  roof  and  sides ;  the 
floor  is  strewn  with  sparkling  salt ; 
the  columns  are  decorated  with  ev- 
ergreens; festoons  of  flags  abound 
through  the  place ;  and  a  band  of 
music  plays  the  airs  appropriate  to 
the  hall  and  the  guest. 

"The  workmen  and  their  fam- 
ilies assemble  in  their  holiday  dress, 
and  when  the  music  begins  the 
whole  party  indulges  in  the  Polish 
national  dance.  It  is  a  strange 
spectacle,  this  scene  of  revelry  five 
hundred  feet  below  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  and  probably  among  the 
sights  that  do  not  come  often  before 
the  Imperial  eyes.  These  spectacles 
must  be  arranged  to  order,  and  for 
weeks  before  an  Imperial  or  Royal 
visit  a  great  many  hands  are  en- 
gaged in  making  the  necessary  prep- 
arations. From  all  I  heard  of  these 
festivals,  I  would  willingly  travel  many  hundred  miles  to  see  one  of 
them. 

"  By  means  of  the  illuminating  materials  that  we  brought  with  us,  we 
were  able  to  get  an  approximate  idea  of  the  character  of  one  of  these  gala 
spectacles.  After  our  last  Bengal -light  had  been  burned,  we  continued 
our  journey,  descending  to  the  third  story  by  many  devious  ways,  and 
finally  halting  in  a  chamber  whose  roof  was  not  less  than  a  hundred  feet 
above  us. 

" '  Do  you  know  where  you  are  V  said  our  guide. 
"  Of  course  we  answered  that  we  did  not. 

" '  Well,'  said  he, '  you  are  directly  beneath  the  lake  which  we  sailed 
over  in  a  boat  a  little  while  ago.  If  it  should  break  through  we  should  all 
be  drowned,  dead.' 

"We  shuddered  to  think  what  might  be  our  fate  if  the  lake  should 


A    RETIRED    DIRECTOR. 


CHARACTER  OF  THE   MINERAL   SALT.  39 

spring  a  leak.  It  did  break  out  at  one  time  and  flooded  many  of  the  gal- 
leries, and  for  a  long  while  work  in  all  the  lower  part  of  the  mine  was 
suspended.  There  have  been  several  fires,  some  of  them  causing  the  loss 
of  many  lives ;  but,  on  the  whole,  considering  the  long  time  the  mine  has 
been  opened  and  the  extent  of  the  works,  the  accidents  have  been  few. 

"  The  deepest  excavation  in  the  mine  is  nearly  seven  hundred  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  sea.  We  did  not  go  there,  in  fact  we  did  not  go 
below  the  third  story,  as  we  had  seen  quite  enough  for  our  purposes,  and 
besides  we  had  only  a  limited  time  to  stay  in  the  mine.  As  we  came  up 
again  to  daylight,  hoisted  in  the  same  sort  of  chairs  as  those  by  which  we 
descended,  we  made  a  final  inspection  of  the  salt  which  comes  from  the 
mine. 

'"There  are  three  kinds  of  salt,'  said  the  guide.  'One  that  is  called 
green  salt  contains  five  or  six  per  cent,  of  clay,  and  has  no  transparency ; 
it  is  cut  into  blocks  and  sent  to  Russia  exactly  as  it  comes  from  the  mine. 
The  second  qualify  is  called  sp&a,  and  is  crystalline  and  mixed  with  sand  ; 
and  the  third  is  in  large  masses,  perfectly  transparent,  having  no  earthy 
matter  mingled  with  it.  The  salt  is  found  in  compact  tertiary  clays  that 
contain  a  good  many  fossils ;  the  finest  salt  is  at  the  lowest  levels,  and  the 
poorest  at  the  higher  ones.' 

"  "Well,  here  we  are  at  the  top  of  the  shaft,  tired  and  hungry,  and  ex- 
cited with  the  wonderful  things  we  have  seen.  The  visit  to  the  salt-mines 
of  Wieliczka  is  something  to  be  lono;  remembered." 


a 


Since  the  visit  herein  described,  the  manner  of  working  the  salt-mines 
of  "Wieliczka  has  undergone  a  decided  change.  Owing  to  the  influx  of  a 
stream  the  lower  levels  of  the  mines  were  flooded,  and  for  some  time  re- 
mained full  of  water.  In  order  to  free  them  it  was  necessary  to  introduce 
powerful  pumping  machinery  of  the  latest  designs,  and  also  to  replace  the 
old  hoisting  apparatus  with  new.  Horse-power  was  abandoned  in  favor 
of  steam,  both  for  hoisting  and  pumping;  new  precautions  were  taken 
against  fire  ;  all  improved  systems  of  mine-working  were  tested,  and  those 
which  proved  useful  were  adopted ;  and  to-day  the  mines  of  Wieliczka 
may  be  considered,  in  every  respect,  the  foremost  salt-mines  in  the  world. 


40 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS    IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

LEAVING  CRACOW.— THE  RUSSIAN  FRONTIER.— THE  POLICE  AND  THE  CUSTOM- 
HOUSE.—RUSSIAN  CENSORSHIP  OF  BOOKS  AND  PAPERS.— CATCHING  A  SMUG- 
GLER—FROM THE  FRONTIER  TO  WARSAW.— SIGHTS  AND  INCIDENTS  IN  THE 
CAPITAL  OF  POLAND.— FROM  WARSAW  TO  ST.  PETERSBURG. 

THE  sun  was  setting  as  our  friends  reached  Cracow,  on  their  return 
from  Wieliczka.  The  walls  of  the  city  were  gilded  by  the  rays  of 
light  that  streamed  over  the  hills  which  formed  the  western  horizon.  In 
all  its  features  the  scene  was  well  calculated  to  impress  the  youthful  trav- 
ellers. Frank  wished  to  make  a  sketch  of  the  gate-way  through  which 
they  passed  on  their  entrance  within  the  walls,  but  the  hour  was  late  and 


OITK.R    WALL    OF    CRACOW. 


ENTERING   RUSSIA. 


41 


delay  inadvisable.  The  commissioner  said  he  would  bring  them  a  photo- 
graph ox  the  spot,  and  with  this  consolation  the  young  man  dismissed  from 
his  mind  the  idea  of  the  sketch. 

All  retired  early,  as  they  intended  taking  the  morning  train  for  the 
Russian  frontier,  and  thence  to  Warsaw.  They  were  up  in  good  season, 
and  at  the  appointed  time  the  train  carried  them  out  of  the  ancient  capi- 
tal of  Poland. 

At  Granitsa,  the  frontier  station,  they  had  a  halt  of  nearly  two  hours. 
Their  passports  were  carefully  examined  by  the  Russian  officials,  while 
their  trunks  underwent  a  vigorous  overhauling.  The  passports  proved  to 
be  entirely  in  order,  and  there  was  no  trouble  with  them.  The  officials 
were  particularly  polite  to  the  American  trio,  and  said  they  were  always 
pleased  to  welcome  Americans  to  the  Empire.  They  were  less  courteous 
to  an  Englishman  who  arrived  by  the  same  train,  and  the  Doctor  said  it 
was  evident  that  the  Crimean  war 
had  not  been  entirely  forgotten. 
Several  passengers  had  neglected 
the  precautions  which  our  friends 
observed  at  Vienna,  in  securing  the 
proper  indorsement  to  their  pass- 
ports, and  were  told  that  they  could 
not  pass  the  frontier.  They  were 
compelled  to  wait  imtil  the  pass- 
ports could  be  sent  to  Cracow  for 
approval  by  the  Russian  consul  at 
that  point,  or  else  to  Vienna.  A 
commissioner  attached  to  the  rail- 
way-station offered  to  attend  to  the 
matter  for  all  who  required  his 
aid ;  formerly  it  was  necessary  for 
the  careless  traveller  to  return  in 
person  to  the  point  designated,  but 
of  late  years  this  has  not  been  re- 
quired. 

"  This  passport  business  is  an 
outrageous  humbug,"  said  the  Eng- 
lishman with  whom  our  friends  had  fallen  into  conversation  while  they 
were  waiting  in  the  anteroom  of  the  passport  office.  "  Its  object  is  to  keep 
improper  persons  out  of  Russia;  but  it  does  nothing  of  the  kind.  Any 
Nihilist,  Revolutionist,  or  other  objectionable  individual  can  always  obtain 


CUSTOM-HOUSE    FORMALITIES. 


42 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


a  passport  under  a  fictitious  name,  and  secure  the  necessary  approval  of 
consuls  or  ambassadors.  Ivan  Carlovitcli,  f or  whom  the  police  are  on  the 
watch,  comes  here  with  a  passport  in  the  name  of  Joseph  Cassini,  a  native 
of  Malta,  and  subject  of  Great  Britain.  His  English  passport  is  obtained 
easily  enough  by  a  little  false  swearing ;  it  is  approved  by  the  Russian 
minister  at  Vienna,  and  the  fellow  enters  Russia  with  perfect  ease.  The 
honest  traveller  who  has  neglected  the  formality  through  ignorance  is  de- 
tained, while  the  Revolutionist  goes  on 
his  way  contented.  The  Revolutionist 
always  knows  the  technicalities  of  the 
law,  and  is  careful  to  observe  them ;  and 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  passport  system 
never  prevented  any  political  offender 
from  getting  into  Russia  when  he 
wanted  to  go  there. 

"  I  have  been  in  Russia  before,"  he- 
continued,  "and  know  what  I  am  say- 
ing. The  first  time  I  went  there  was 
from  Berlin,  and  on  reaching  the  fron- 
tier I  was  stopped  because  my  passport 
was  not  properly  indorsed.  I  supposed 
I  would  have  to  go  back  to  Berlin,  but  the  station-master  said  I  need  not 
take  that  trouble ;  I  could  stop  at  the  hotel,  and  he  would  arrange  the 
whole  matter,  so  that  I  might  proceed  exactly  twenty-four  hours  later.  I 
did  as  he  told  me,  and  it  was  all  right." 
"  How  was  it  accomplished  ?" 

"  Why,  he  took  my  passport  and  a  dozen  others  whose  owners  were  in 
the  same  fix  as  myself,  and  sent  them  by  the  conductor  of  the  train  to 
Kcenigsburg,  where  there  is  a  Russian  consul.  For  a  fee  of  two  English 
shillings  (fifty  cents  of  your  money)  the  consul  approved  each  passport ; 
another  fee  of  fifty  cents  paid  the  conductor  for  his  trouble,  and  he 
brought  back  the  passports  on  his  return  run  to  the  frontier.  Then  the 
station-master  wanted  four  shillings  (one  dollar)  for  his  share  of  the  work, 
and  we  were  all  en  regie  to  enter  the  Russian  Empire.  We  got  our  bag- 
gage ready,  and  were  at  the  station  when  the  train  arrived ;  the  station- 
master  delivered  our  passports,  and  collected  his  fee  along  with  the  fees 
of  the  conductor  and  consul,  and  that  ended  the  whole  business.  The 
consul  knew  nothing  about  any  of  the  persons  named  in  the  passport.-. 
and  we  might  have  been  conspirators  or  anything  else  that  was  objection- 
able, and  nobody  would  have  been  the  wiser.     Russia  is  the  only  country 


PASSPORT   NOT   COItltECT. 


TRAVELLERS   EXAMINED. . 


43 


in  Europe  that  keeps  up  the  passport  system  with  any  severity,  and  it  only 
results  in  putting  honest  people  to  trouble  and  expense,  and  never  stops 
those  whom  it  is  intended  to  reach.  There,  they've  opened  the  door,  and 
we  can  now  go  before  the  representatives  of  the  autocrat  of  all  the  Rus- 
sias." 

One  by  one  they  approached  the  desk,  with  the  result  already  stated. 
At  the  examination  of  the  baggage  in  the  custom-house  the  clothing  and 


IN    THE    PASSPORT   BUREAU. 


personal  effects  of  our  friends  were  passed  without  question,  but  there  was 
some  difficulty  over  a  few  books  which  the  boys  had  bought  before  leav- 
ing Yienna.  One  volume,  pronounced  objectionable,  was  seized  as  con- 
traband, but  the  others  were  not  taken.     Every  book  written  by  a  foreign- 


44  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

er  about  Russia  is  carefully  examined  by  the  official  censor  as  soon  as  it 
is  published,  and  upon  bis  decision  depends  the  question  of  its  circulation 
being  allowed  in  the  Empire.  Anything  calculated  to  throw  disrespect 
upon  the  Imperial  family,  or  upon  the  Government  in  general,  is  prohib- 
ited, as  well  as  everything  which  can  be  considered  to  have  a  revolution- 
ary tendency. 

"  They  are  not  so  rigid  as  they  used  to  be,"  growled  the  Englishman, 
as  be  closed  and  locked  his  trunk  after  the  examination  was  completed. 
"In  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  they  would  not  allow  anything 
that  indicated  there  was  any  other  government  in  the  world  which 
amounted  to  anything,  and  they  were  particularly  severe  upon  all  kinds 
of  school-books.  Now  they  rarely  object  to  school-books,  unless  they  con- 
tain too  many  teachings  of  liberty  ;  and  the}'  are  getting  over  their  squeam- 
ishness  about  criticisms,  even  if  they  are  abusive  and  untruthful.  The 
worst  case  I  ever  heard  of  was  of  an  inspector  at  one  of  the  frontier  sta- 
tions^who  seized  a  book  on  astronomy  because  it  contained  a  chapter  on 
'  The  Revolutions  of  the  Earth.'  He  said  nothing  revolutionary  coidd  be 
allowed  to  enter  the  Empire,  and  confiscated  the  volume  in  spite  of  its 
owner's  explanations. 

"Under  Nicholas,"  continued  the  Englishman,  "Macaulay's  'History 
of  England '  was  prohibited,  though  it  could  be  bought  without  much 
trouble.  After  Alexander  II.  ascended  the  throne  the  rigors  of  the  cen- 
sorship Avere  greatly  reduced,  and  papers  and  books  were  freely  admitted 
into  Russia  which  were  prohibited  in  France  under  Louis  Napoleon.  All 
the  Tauclmitz  editions  of  English  works  were  permitted,  even  including 
Carlyle's  'French  Revolution.'  It  is  possible  that  the  last-named  book  had 
escaped  notice,  as  you  would  hardly  expect  it  to  be  allowed  free  circula- 
tion in  Russia.  Books  and  newspapers  addressed  to  the  professors  of  the 
universities,  to  officers  above  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  to  the  legations  of 
foreign  countries  are  not  subjected  to  the  censorship,  or  at  least  they  were 
not  so  examined  a  few  years  ago.  Since  the  rise  of  Nihilism  the  authori- 
ties have  become  more  rigid  again,  and  books  and  papers  are  stopped 
which  would  not  have  been  suppressed  at  all  before  the  death  of  Alex- 
ander II. 

'•  If  you  want  to  know  the  exact  functions  of  the  censor,"  said  the 
gentleman,  turning  to  Frank  and  Fred,  "  here  is  an  extract  from  his 
instructions." 

With  these  words  he  gave  to  one  of  the  youths  a  printed  slip  which 
stated  that  it  was  the  censor's  duty  to  prohibit  and  suppress  "all  works 
written  in  a  spirit  hostile  to  the  orthodox  Greek  Church,  or  containing 


MONEY-CHANGING  AT  THE  FRONTIER.  io 

anything  that  is  contrary  to  the  truths  of  the  Christian  religion,  or  sub- 
versive of  good  manners  or  morality ;  all  publications  tending  to  assail 
the  inviolability  of  autocratical  monarchical  power  and  the  fundamental 
laws  of  the  Empire,  or  to  diminish  the  respect  due  to  the  Imperial  family  ; 
all  productions  containing  attacks  on  the  honor  or  reputation  of  any  one, 
by  improper  expressions,  by  the  publication  of  circumstances  relating  to 
domestic  life,  or  by  calumny  of  any  kind  whatever." 

The  boys  thanked  the  gentleman  for  the  information  he  had  given 
them  on  a  subject  about  which  they  were  curious;  and  as  the  examina- 
tion of  the  custom-house  Avas  completed,  they  proceeded  to  the  restaurant, 
which  was  in  a  large  hall  at  the  end  of  the  station. 

Near  the  door  of  the  restaurant  was  the  office  of  a  money-changer, 


WAY    STATION    ON    THE    RAILWAY. 


its  character  being  indicated  by  signs  in  at  least  half  a  dozen  languages. 
Passengers  were  exchanging  their  Austrian  money  for  Russian,  and  the 
office  seemed  to  be  doing  an  active  business. 

"  That  fellow  has  about  as  good  a  trade  as  one  could  wish,"  said  the 
Englishman,  as  he  nodded  in  the  direction  of  the  man  at  the  little  win- 
dow. "  Two  trains  arrive  here  daily  each  way ,  for  people  going  north 
he  changes  Austrian  into  Russian  money,  and  for  those  going  south   he 


46 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


changes  Russian  into  Austrian.     He  receives  one  per  cent,  commission  on 
each  transaction,  which  amounts  to  four  per  cent,  daily,  as  he  handles  the 
money  four  times.     I  have  often  envied  these  frontier  bankers,  who  run 
no  risk  whatever,  provided  they  are  not  swindled  with  counterfeits,  and 
can  make  twelve  hundred  per  cent,  annually  on  their  capital.     But  per- 
haps they  have  to  pay  so  dearly  for 
the  privilege  that  they  are  unable  to 
get  rich  by  their  business.     By-the- 
way,"  said  he,  changing  the  subject 
abruptly,  "  did  you  observe  the  stout 
lady  that  stood  near  us  in  the  ante- 
room of  the  passport  office  ?" 

"Yes,"  answered  the  Doctor, 
"  and  she  seemed  quite  uneasy,  as 
though  she  feared  trouble." 

"  Doubtless  she  did,"  was  the  re- 
ply, "but  it  was  not  on  account  of 
her  passport.  She  was  probably 
laden  with  goods  which  she  intend- 
ed smuggling  into  Russia,  and  feared 
detection.  I  noticed  that  she  was 
called  aside  by  the  custom  -house 
officials,  and  ushered  into  the  room 
devoted  to  suspected  persons.  She 
isn't  here  yet,  and  perhaps  they'll 
keep  her  till  the  train  has  gone. 
Ah  !  here  she  comes." 
Frank  and  Fred  looked  in  the  direction  indicated,  but  could  not  see 
any  stout  lady ;  neither  could  the  Doctor,  but  he  thought  he  recognized  a 
face  he  had  seen  before.  It  belonged  to  a  woman  who  was  comparatively 
slight  in  figure,  and  who  took  her  seat  very  demurely  at  one  of  the  tables 
near  the  door. 

"  That  is  the  stout  lady  of  the  anteroom,"  said  the  Englishman, "  and 
her  form  has  been  reduced  more  rapidly  than  any  advocate  of  the  Banting 
or  any  other  anti-fat  system  ever  dreamed  of.  She  was  probably  detected 
by  her  uneasy  manner,  and  consequently  was  subjected  to  an  examination 
at  the  hands  of  the  female  searchers.  They've  removed  dry  goods  enough 
from  her  to  set  up  a  small  shop,  and  she  won't  undertake  smuggling  again 
in  a  hurry.  Import  duties  are  high  in  Russia,  and  the  temptation  to 
smuggle  is  great.      She  was  an  inexperienced  smuggler,  or  she  would 


BEFORE    EXAMINATION. 


THROUGH  RUSSIAN  POLAND. 


47 


not  have  been  caught  so  easily.  Probably  she  is  of  some  other  nationality 
than  Russian,  or  they  would  not  have  liberated  her  after  confiscating  her 
contraband  goods.'' 

The  incident  led  to  a  conversation  upon  the  Russian  tariff  system, 
which  is  based  upon  the  most  emphatic  ideas  in  favor  of  protection  to 
home  industries.  As  it  is  no  part  of  our  intention  to  discuss  the  tariff  in 
this  volume,  we  will  omit  what  was  said  upon  the  subject,  particularly  as 
no  notes  were  taken  by  either  Frank  or  Fred. 

In  due  time  the  train  on  the  Russian  side  of  the  station  was  ready  to 
receive  the  travellers,  and  they  took  their  places  in  one  of  the  carriages. 
It  needed  only  a  glance  to  show  they  had  crossed  the  frontier.     The  Aus- 
trian uniform  disappeared,  and  the  Russian  took  its  place ;  the  Russian 
language  was  spoken  instead  of  German  ;  the  carriages  were  lettered  in 
Russian  ;  posts  painted  in  alternate 
stripes  of  white  and  black  (the  in- 
vention of  the  Emperor  Paul  about 
the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury),  denoted    the    sovereignty   of 
the  Czar ;  and  the  dress  of  many  of 
the  passengers  indicated  a  change  of 
nationality. 

The  train  rolled  away  from 
Granitsa  in  the  direction  of  "War- 
saw, which  was  the  next  point  of 
destination  of  our  friends.  The 
country  through  which  they  trav- 
elled was  not  particularly  interest- 
ing ;  it  was  fairly  though  not  thickly 
settled,  and  contained  no  important  | 

towns  on  the  line  of  the  railway,  J 

or  any  other  object  of  especial  in-  H 

terest.  Their  English  acquaintance 
said  there  were  mines  of  coal,  iron, 
and  zinc  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Zombkowitse,    where    the    railway 

from  Austria  unites  with  that  from  eastern  Germany.  It  is  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  Warsaw;  about  forty  miles  farther  on 
there  was  a  town  with  an  unpronounceable  name,  with  about  ten  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  a  convent,  which  is  an  object  of  pilgrimage  to  many  pious 
Catholics  of  Poland  and  Silesia.      A  hundred  miles  from  Warsaw  they 


AFTER    EXAMINATION. 


4S 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


passed  Petrikau,  which  was  the  seat  of  the  ancient  tribunals  of  Poland ; 
and  then,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  they  slept  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  way  till  the  train  stopped  at  the  station  in  the  Praga  suburb  of 
Warsaw,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Vistula. 

As  they  neared  the  station  they  had  a  good  view  of  "Warsaw,  on  the 
heights  above  the  river,  and  commanded  by  a  fortress  which  occupies  tin- 
centre  of  the  city  itself.  Alighting  from  the  train,  they  surrendered  their 
passports  to  an  official,  who  said  the  documents  would  be  returned  to  them 


SCENE    O.N    THE    RAILWAY. 


at  the  Hotel  de  l'Europe,  where  they  proposed  to  stop  during  their  so- 
journ within  the  gates  of  Warsaw.  Tickets  permitting  them  to  go  into 
the  city  were  given  in  exchange  for  the  passports,  and  then  they  entered  a 
rickety  omnibus  and  were  driven  to  the  hotel. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  they  climbed  the  sloping  road  lead- 
ing into  Warsaw,  and  looked  down  upon  the  Vistula  and  the  stretch  of 
low  land  on  the  Praga  side.  Fred  repeated  the  lines  of  the  old  verse  from 
which  we  have  already  quoted,  and  observed  how  well  the  scene  is  de- 
scribed in  a  single  couplet : 

"  Warsaw's  last  champion  from  her  heights  surveyed, 
Wide  o'er  the  fields  a  waste  of  ruin  laid." 

Laid  desolate  by  many  wars  and  subjected  to  despotic  rule,  the  coun- 
try around  Warsaw  bears  little  evidence  of  prosperity.     Many  houses  are 


A  BIT   OF   POLISH  HISTORY. 


■iO 


•without  tenants,  and  many  farms  are  either  half  tilled  or  wholly  without 
cultivation.  The  spirit  of  revolution  springs  eternal  in  the  Polish  breast, 
and  the  spirit  of  suppression  must  be  equally  enduring  in  the  breast  of 
the  Russian.  It  is  only  by  the  severest  measures  that  the  Russians  can 
maintain  their  control  of  Poland.  A  Polish  writer  has  well  described  the 
situation  when  he  says,  "  Under  a  cruel  government,  it  is  Poland's  duty 
to  rebel  against  oppression ;  under  a  liberal  government,  it  is  her  duty  to 
rebel  because  she  has  the  opportunity." 

After  dinner  at  the  hotel  our  friends  started  for  a  walk  through  the 
principal  streets  ;  but  they  did  not  go  very  far.  The  streets  were  poorly 
lighted,  few  people  were  about,  and  altogether  the  stroll  was  not  particu- 
larly interesting.  They  returned  to  the  hotel,  and  devoted  an  hour  or  so 
to  a  chat  about  Poland  and  her  sad  history. 

"  Walls  are  said  to  have  ears,"  the  Doctor  remarked,  "  but  we  have 
little  cause  to  be  disturbed  about  them,  as  we  are  only  discussing  among 


SHUTES    FOR    LOADING    COAL    ON    THE    RAILWAY. 


ourselves  the  known  facts  of  history.  Poland  and  Russia  were  at  war  for 
centuries,  and  at  one  time  Poland  had  the  best  of  the  fight.  How  many 
of  those  who  sympathize  so  deeply  with  the  wrongs  of  Poland  are  aware 
of  the  fact  that  in  1610  the  Poles  held  Moscow  as  the  Russians  now  hold 
"Warsaw,  and  that  the  Russian  Czar  was  taken  prisoner,  and  died  the  next 
year  in  a  Polish  prison  1  Moscow  was  burned  by  the  Poles  in  1611,  and 
thousands  of  its  inhabitants  were  slaughtered  ;  in  1612  the  Poles  were 

4 


50 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


driven  out,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  their  wars  with  Russia  have 
not  been  successful. " 

"  I  didn't  know  that,"  said  Frank,  "  until  I  read  it  to-day  in  one  of  our 
books." 

"  Nor  did  I,"  echoed  Fred;  "and  probably  not  one  person  in  a  hun- 
dred is  aware  of  it." 

"  Understand,"  said  the  Doctor,  with  emphasis — "understand  that  I  do 
not  say  this  to  justify  in  any  way  the  wrongs  that  Russia  may  have  vis- 


FOLISII    NATIONAL    COSTUMES. 


ited  on  Poland,  but  simply  to  show  that  all  the  wrong  has  not  been  on 
one  side.  Russia  and  Poland  have  been  hostile  to  each  other  for  centu- 
ries ;  they  are  antagonistic  in  everything — language,  religion,  customs,  and 
national  ambitions  —  and  there  could  be  no  permanent   peace   between 


THE   PARTITIONS   OF  POLAND. 


51 


them  until  one  had  completely  absorbed  the  other.  Twice  in  this  cen- 
tury (in  1830  and  1863)  the  Poles  have  rebelled  against  Russia,  because 
they  had  the  opportunity  in  consequence  of  the  leniency  of  the  Govern- 
ment. From  present  appearances  they  are  not  likely  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity again  for  a  long  time,  if  ever." 

One  of  the  youths  asked  how  the  revolution  of  1830  was  brought 
about. 

"  Poland  had  been,  as  you  know,  divided  at  three  different  times,  by 
Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  the  third  partition  taking 
place  in  1795.  At  the  great  settlement  among  the  Powers  of  Europe,  in 
1815,  after  the  end  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  the  Emperor  of  Russia  pro- 
posed to  form  ancient  Poland  into  a  constitutional  monarchy  under  the 
Russian  crown.     His  plan  was  adopted,  with  some  modifications,  and  from 


'u~JJ''ftrr  --  -l_z^^ 


FEASANT  S   FARM-HOUSE. 


1815  to  1830  the  country  had  its  national  Diet  or  Parliament,  its  national 
administration,  and  its  national  army  of  thirty  thousand  men.  The  Rus- 
sian Emperor  was  the  King  of  Poland,  and  this  the  Poles  resented  ;  they 
rebelled,  and  were  defeated.  After  the  defeat  the  constitution  was  with- 
drawn and  the   national   army  abolished ;   the   Polish  universities  were 


52 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


KOTAL    PALACE    AT    WARSAW. 


closed,  the  Polish  language  was  proscribed  in  the  public  offices,  and  every 
attempt  was  made  to  Russianize  the  country.  It  was  harshly  punished 
for  its  rebellion  until  Alexander  II.  ascended  the  throne. 

"  Alexander  tried  to  conciliate  the  people  by  granting  concessions.  The 
schools  and  universities  were  reopened  ;  the  language  was  restored ;  Poles 
were  appointed  to  nearly  all  official  positions ;  elective  district  and  munic- 
ipal councils  were  formed,  and  also 
a  Polish  Council  of  State.  But 
nothing  short  of  independence 
would  satisfy  the  inhabitants,  and 
then  came  the  revolution  of  1863. 
It  was  suppressed,  like  its  prede- 
cessor, and  from  that  time  the 
Russians  have  maintained  such  an 
iron  rule  in  Poland  that  a  revolt 
of  any  importance  is  next  to  impossible.  All  the  oppression  of  which 
Russia  is  capable  cannot  destroy  the  spirit  of  independence  among  the 
Poles.  They  are  as  patriotic  as  the  Irish,  and  will  continue  to  hope  for 
liberty  as  long  as  their  blood  flows  in  human  veins." 

A  knock  on  the  door  brought  the  Doctor's  discourse  to  an  abrupt  end. 
It  was  made  by  the  commissioner,  who  came  to  arrange  for  their  excursion 
on  the  following  day. 

We  will  see  in  due  course  where  they  went  and  what  they  saw.  It  is 
now  their  bedtime,  and  they  are  retiring  for  the  night. 

The  next  morning  they  secured  a  carriage,  and  drove  through  the 
principal  streets  and  squares,  visiting  the  Royal  Palace  and  other  build- 
ings of  importance,  and  also  the  parks  and  gardens  outside  the  city  limits. 
Concerning  their  excursion  in  Warsaw  the  youths  made  the  following 
notes  : 

"  We  went  first  to  the  Royal  Castle,  which  we  were  not  permitted  to 
enter,  as  it  is  occupied  by  the  Viceroy  of  Poland,  or  '  the  Emperor's  Lieu- 
tenant,' as  he  is  more  commonly  called.  It  is  a  very  old  building,  which 
has  been  several  times  altered  and  restored.  There  were  many  pictures 
and  other  objects  of  art  in  the  castle  until  1831,  when  they  were  removed 
to  St.  Petersburg.  In  the  square  in  front  of  the  castle  is  a  statue  of  one 
of  the  kings  of  Poland,  and  we  were  told  that  the  square  was  the  scene  of 
some  of  the  uprisings  of  the  Poles  against  their  Russian  masters. 

"  From  the  castle  we  went  to  the  cathedral,  which  was  built  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  contains  monuments  to  the  memory  of  several  of 
the  kings  and  other  great  men  of  the  country.     It  is  proper  to  say  here 


RELIGIONS   OF  THE   PEOPLE. 


53 


that  the  Catholic  is  the  prevailing  religion  of  Poland,  and  no  doubt  much 
of  the  hatred  of  Russians  and  Poles  for  each  other  is  in  consequence  of 
their  religious  differences.  By  the  latest  figures  of  the  population  that 
we  have  at  hand,  Russian  Poland  contains  about  3,800,000  Catholics, 
300,000  Protestants,  700,000  Jews,  and  250,000  members  of  the  Greek 
Church  and  adherents  of  other  religions,  or  a  little  more  than  5,000,000 
of  inhabitants  in  all.     Like  all  people  who  have  been  oppressed,  the  Cath- 


S1IKINK    AT    A    GATEWAY. 


olics  and  Jews  are  exceedingly  devout,  and  adhere  unflinchingly  to  their 
religious  faith.  Churches  and  synagogues  are  numerous  in  Warsaw,  as  in 
the  other  Polish  cities.     In  our  ride  through  Warsaw  we  passed  many 


54 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IX   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


shrines,  and  at  nearly  all  of  them  the  faithful  were  kneeling  to  repeat  the 
prayers  prescribed  by  their  religious  teachers. 

"  From  the  cathedral  we  went  to  the  citadel,  which  is  on  a  hill  in  the 
centre  of  the  city,  and  was  built  after  the  revolution  of  1830.  The  expense 
of  its  construction  was  placed  upon  the  people  as  a  punishment  for  the 
revolution,  and  for  the  purpose  of  bombarding  the  city  in  case  of  another 

rebellion.  From  the  walls  of  the  cit- 
adel there  is  a  tine  view  of  consider- 
able extent ;  but  there  is  nothing  in 
the  place  of  special  interest.  The 
fort  is  constantly  occupied  by  a  gar- 
rison of  Eussian  soldiers.  It  contains 
a  prison  for  political  offenders  and 
a  military  court-house,  where  tliev 
are  tried  for  their  alleged  offences. 

"  There  are  ten  or  twelve  squares, 
or  open  places,  in  Warsaw,  of  which 
the  finest  is  said  to  be  the  Saxon 
Srpiare.  It  contains  a  handsome 
monument  to  the  Poles  who  adhered 
to  the  Russian  cause  in  the  revolu- 
tion of  1830.  Some  writers  say  it 
was  all  a  mistake,  and  that  the  Poles 
whose  memory  is  here  preserved  were 
really  on  their  way  to  join  the  regi- 
ments which  had  declared  in  favor  of 
the  insurrection. 
'•  There  are  several  handsome  streets  and  avenues ;  and  as  for  the  pub- 
lic palaces  and  fine  residences  which  once  belonged  to  noble  families  of 
Poland,  but  are  now  mostly  in  Government  hands,  the  list  alone  would  be 
long  and  tedious.  One  of  the  finest  palaces  is  in  the  Lazienki  Park,  and 
was  built  by  King  Stanislaus  Poniatowski.  It  is  the  residence  of  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia  when  he  comes  to  Warsaw ;  but  as  his  visits  are  rare,  it 
is  almost  always  accessible  to  travellers.  We  stopped  a  few  minutes  in 
front  of  the  statue  of  King  John  Sobieski.  There  is  an  anecdote  about 
this  statue  which  the  students  of  Eussian  and  Polish  history  will  appreci- 
ate. During  a  visit  in  1850  the  Emperor  Nicholas  paused  in  front  of  the 
>tatue,  and  remarked  to  those  around  him.  '  The  two  kings  of  Poland 
who  committed  the  greatest  errors  were  John  Sobieski  and  myself,  for 
we  both  saved  the  Austrian  monarchy.' 


LAKE    IN     l'HK    PAKK. 


SIGHTS   AND   INDUSTRIES  OF   WARSAW. 


55 


"  Inside  the  palace  there  are  many  fine  paintings  and  other  works  of 
art.  There  are  portraits  of  Polish  kings  and  queens,  and  other  rare  pict- 
ures, but  not  as  many  as  in  the  Castle  of  Villanov,  which  we  afterwards 
visited.  In  the  latter,  which  was  the  residence  of  John  Sobieski,  and 
now  belongs  to  Count  Potocki,  there  are  paintings  by  Rubens  and  other 
celebrated  masters,  and  there  is  a  fine  collection  of  armor,  including  the 
suit  which  was  presented  to  Sobieski  by  the  Pope,  after  the  former  had 
driven  the  Turks  away  from  Vienna.  It  is  beautifully  inlaid  with  ivory 
and  mother-of-pearl,  and  covered  with  arabesques  of  astonishing  delicacy. 


A    BUSINESS   MAN    OF    WARSAW. 


We  could  have  spent  hours  in  studying  it,  and  you  may  be  sure  we  left  it 
with  great  reluctance. 

"  Warsaw  has  a  population  of  nearly  three  hundred  thousand,  and 
there  are  a  good  many  factories  for  the  manufacture  of  carriages,  pianos, 
cloth,  carpets,  and  machines  of  various  kinds.     The  city  is  the  centre  of  a 


5G 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


large  trade  in  grain,  cattle,  horses,  and  wool,  and  altogether  it  may  be  con- 
sidered prosperous.  Much  of  the  business  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews, 
who  have  managed  to  have  and  hold  a  great  deal  of  wealth  in  spite  of  the 
oppression  they  have  undergone  by  both  Poles  and  Russians. 

"  The  women  of  Warsaw  are  famous  for  their  beauty,  and  we  are  all 
agreed  that  we  have  seen  more  pretty  faces  here  than  in  any  other  city 
of  Europe  in  the  same  time.  The  Jews  of  Warsaw  are  nearly  all  blonds ; 
the  men  have  red  beards,  and  the  hair  of  the  women  is  of  the  shade  that 
used  to  be  the  fashion  among  American  and  English  actresses,  and  is  not 


I    I 


fl 


in     | 


ih'i'i 


F/1 


/. 


m     %    ^m  ft 


f  / 


IN    ST.   PETERSBURG. 


yet  entirely  forgotten.  We  bought  some  photographs  in  one  of  the 
shops,  and  are  sure  they  will  be  excellent  adornments  for  our  albums  at 
home. 

"  In  the  evening  we  went  to  the  opera  in  the  hope  of  seeing  the  na- 
tional costumes  of  the  Poles,  but  in  this  we  were  disappointed.  The 
operas  are  sung  in  Italian  ;  the  principal  singers  are  French,  Italian,  Eng- 
lish, or  any  other  nationality,  like  those  of  opera  companies  elsewhere,  and 
only  the  members  of  the  chorus  and  ballet  are  Poles.  Eussian  uniforms 
are  in  the  boxes  and  elsewhere  in  the  house,  and  every  officer  is  required 
to  wear  his  sword,  and  be  ready  at  any  moment  to  be  summoned  to  fight. 
The  men  not  in  uniform  are  in  evening  dress,  and  the  ladies  are  like  those 


IN   ST.  PETERSBURG.  5  i 

of  an  audience  in  Vienna  or  Naples,  so  far  as  their  dress  is  concerned. 
The  opera  closed  at  half-past  eleven  ;  our  guide  met  us  outside  the  door,  and 
when  we  proposed  a  stroll  he  said  we  must  be  at  the  hotel  by  midnight, 
under  penalty  of  being  arrested.  Any  one  out-of-doors  between  midnight 
and  daylight  will  be  taken  in  by  the  police  and  locked  up,  unless  he  has 
a  pass  from  the  authorities.  In  troubled  times  the  city  is  declared  in  a 
state  of  siege,  and  then  everybody  on  the  streets  after  dusk  must  carry  a 
lantern. 

"  As  we  had  no  fancy  for  passing  the  night  in  a  Russian  station-house, 
we  returned  straight  to  the  hotel.  Probably  we  would  have  been  there 
by  midnight  in  any  event,  as  we  were  tired  enough  to  make  a  long  walk 
objectionable." 

The  next  day  our  friends  visited  some  of  the  battle-fields  near  War- 
saw, and  on  the  third  took  the  train  for  St.  Petersburg,  six  hundred  and 
twenty-five  miles  away.  There  was  little  of  interest  along  the  line  of 
railway,  as  the  country  is  almost  entirely  a  plain,  and  one  mile  is  so  much 
like  another  that  the  difference  is  scarcely  perceptible.  The  principal 
towns  or  cities  through  which  they  passed  were  Bialystok  and  Grodno,  the 
latter  famous  for  having  been  the  residence  of  several  Polish  kings,  and 
containing  the  royal  castle  where  they  lived.  At  Wilna,  four  hundred 
and  forty -one  miles  from  St.  Petersburg,  the  railway  unites  with  that 
from  Berlin.  The  change  of  train  and  transfer  of  baggage  detained  the 
party  half  an  hour  or  more,  but  not  long  enough  to  allow  them  to  inspect 
this  ancient  capital  of  the  independent  duchy  of  Lithuania.  At  Pskof 
they  had  another  halt,  but  only  sufficient  for  patronizing  the  restaurant. 
The  town  is  two  miles  from  the  station,  and  contains  an  old  castle  and 
several  other  buildings  of  note ;  it  has  a  prominent  place  in  Poland's  war 
history,  but  is  not  often  visited  by  travellers. 

At  Gatchina,  famous  for  its  trout  and  containing  an  Imperial  palace, 
an  official  collected  the  passports  of  the  travellers,  which  were  afterwards 
returned  to  them  on  arriving  at  the  St.  Petersburg  station.  As  they  ap- 
proached the  Imperial  city  the  first  object  to  catch  the  eye  was  a  great 
ball  of  gold  outlined  against  the  sky.  Frank  said  it  must  be  the  dome 
of  St.  Isaac's  Church,  and  the  Doctor  nodded  assent  to  the  suggestion. 
The  dome  of  St.  Isaac's  is  to  the  capital  of  Russia  what  the  dome  of  St. 
Peter's  is  to  Rome — the  first  object  on  which  the  gaze  of  the  approaching 
traveller  is  fixed. 


58  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

IN  THE  STREETS  OF  ST.  PETERSBURG.— ISVOSHCHIKS  AND  DROSKIES.— COUNTING 
IN  RUSSIAN.  —  PASSPORTS  AND  THEIR  USES.— ON  THE  NEVSKI  PROSPECT.— 
VISITING  THE  CHURCH  OF  KAZAN.— THE  RUSSO-GREEK  RELIGION.— UNFAVOR- 
ABLE POSITION  OF  ST.  PETERSBURG.— DANGER  OF  DESTRUCTION.— GREAT  INUN- 
DATION OF  1S24. — STATUE  OF  PETER  THE  GREAT.— ADMIRALTY  SQUARE.— THE 
SAILORS  AND  THE  STATUE. 

A  COMMISSIONER  from  the  Hotel  de  l'Europe  was  at  the  station. 
Doctor  Bronson  gave  him  the  receipts  for  their  trunks,  and  after 
securing  their  passports,  which  had  been  examined  on  the  train  during 
the  ride  from  Gatchina,  the  party  entered  a  carriage  and  rode  to  the  hotel. 
Frank  and  Fred  were  impatient  to  try  a  drosky,  and  wondered  why  the 
Doctor  had  not  secured  one  of  the  vehicles  characteristic  of  the  country. 

"  You'll  have  abundant  opportunities  for  drosky-riding,"  said  Doctor 
Bronson,  in  reply  to  Fred's  query  on  the  subject.  "  For  the  present  the 
vehicle  is  not  suited  to  our  purposes,  as  we  have  our  hand -baggage  and 
other  trifles ;  besides,  we  are  three  individuals,  while  the  drosky  is  only 
laree  enough  for  two." 

The  youths  confirmed  with  their  eyes  the  correctness  of  the  Doctor's 
assertion  as  the  little  vehicles  were  whizzing  around  them  in  every  direc- 
tion. The  drosky  is  a  stout  carriage  on  low  wheels,  somewhat  resem- 
bling the  victoria  of  AY~estern  Europe,  and  is  drawn  by  a  single  horse. 
The  isvoshchik,  or  driver,  is  seated  on  a  high  box  in  front,  and  somehow 
he  manages  to  get  an  astonishing  speed  out  of  the  shaggy  animal  that 
forms  his  team.  Frank  afterwards  wrote  as  follows  concerning  droskies 
and  isvoshcbiks : 

"  It  is  astonishing  to  contemplate  the  swarm  of  droskies  with  which 
St.  Petersburg  and  every  other  Russian  city  abounds.  They  are  to  be 
found  everywhere  and  at  all  hours.  No  matter  where  you  may  be,  or  at 
what  hour  of  the  day  or  night,  you  have  only  to  call  out  '  Isvoshchik !' 
or  '  Drosky !'  and  one  of  the  little  carriages  appears  as  if  by  magic. 
Not  only  one.  but  half  a  dozen  will  be  pretty  sure  to  come  forward.  The 
drivers  contend,  and  not  always  very  politely,  for  the  honor  of  your  pat- 


DROSKIES  AND  ISVOSHCHIKS. 


59 


ronage ;  but  as  soon  as  you  have  made  your  selection  the  rejected  ones 
drop  away  and  leave  you  undisturbed. 

"  There  is  something  interesting  in  the  manner  of  the  isvoshchik, 
especially  in  the  marked  contrast  before  and  after  he  has  made  a  bargain 
with  you.  Until  the  transaction  is  closed,  he  is  as  independent  as  the 
hackman  of  New  York  or  the  cabby  of  London.  The  moment  the  bargain 
is  settled  and  he  has  accepted  your  offer,  he  is  your  willing  slave.     Offer 


ISVOSHCHIKS    IN    WINTER. 


him  forty  copecks  an  hour,  and  he  refuses,  while  demanding  fifty  or  sixty; 
you  walk  on,  and  he  pretends  to  go  away,  and  if  your  offer  is  unreason- 
ably low  he  will  not  trouble  you  again.  Suddenly  he  reins  up  his  horse 
close  to  the  sidewalk,  springs  from  his  seat,  and  with  the  word  lPoshoidtz ' 
('  If  you  please ')  he  motions  you  to  enter  the  carriage.  He  is  now  at 
your  service,  and  will  drive  just  as  you  desire ;  your  slightest  wish  will 
be  his  law. 

"  Doctor  Bronson  told  us  we  must  learn  how  to  count  in  Eussian,  and 
also  acquire  a  few  phrases  in  common  use ;  the  more  of  them  we  could 
learn  the  better.  While  on  the  train  from  Warsaw  to  St.  Petersburg  we 
learned  to  count.     I  think  we  did  it  in  about  two  hours,  as  it  was  really 


CO 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


very  simple  after  we  had  gone  through  the  numerals  up  to  ten  and 
fixed  them  in  mind.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  know  how  it  is  done ; 
well,  here  it  is : 

"  The  numerals  from  one  to  twelve  are  o-deen,  dva,  tree,  c\iQ-tee-r\,  pyat, 
shayst,  sem,  vocem,  r7e-vee-at,  rfc-ci-at,  odeen-nat-zat,  dva-nat-zat.     For  thir- 


DROSKY    DRIVERS. 


teen,  fourteen,  and  so  on,  you  add  '  nat-zat  *  to  the  single  numerals  till  you 
get  to  twenty,  which  is  '  dva-deciat."  or  two  tens.  Twenty -one  is  'dva- 
deciat-odeen,'  or  two  tens  and  one,  and  so  on.  You  go  up  to  thirty,  which 
is '  tree-deciat.'  or  three  tens,  but  generally  shortened  in  pronunciation  to 
'treetsat'  or  '  tritsat."  All  the  other  tens  up  to  ninety  are  formed  in  the 
same  way,  with  the  exception  of  forty,  which  is  '  sorok.'  Ninety  is  '  deviat- 
na-sto '  ('ten  taken  from  hundred  '),  and  one  hundred  is  '  sto  ;'  two  hundred 


RIDING  IN   THE   STREETS.  61 

is  '  dva-sto.'  The  other  hundreds  are  formed  in  the  same  way  to  five 
hundred,  which  is  '  pyat  sot ;'  six  hundred  is  '  shayst  sot,'  and  the  other 
hundreds  go  on  the  same  way ;  one  thousand  is  '  tis-syat-s^«.'  You  can 
now  go  ahead  with  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands  up  to  a  million,  which 
is  '  meel-yon' — very  much  like  our  own  word  for  the  same  number. 

"  It  helps  us  greatly  in  getting  around  among  the  people  without  a 
guide.  "We  can  bargain  with  the  drivers,  make  purchases  in  the  shops, 
and  do  lots  and  lots  of  things  which  we  could  not  if  we  didn't  know  how 
to  connt.  Any  boy  or  man  who  comes  to  Russia  should  learn  to  count 
while  he  is  riding  from  the  frontier  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  if  he  takes  our 
advice  he  will  do  so.  He  can  find  it  all  in  Murray's  or  any  other  good 
guide-book,  and  he  will  also  find  there  the  most  useful-  phrases  for  travel- 
ling purposes. 

"  In  driving  with  the  isvoshchiks,  we  have  found  them  very  obliging, 
and  both  Fred  and  I  have  been  many  times  surprised  at  their  intelligence 
when  we  remembered  that  very  few  of  them  were  able  to  read  or  write 
their  own  language.  When  they  find  we  are  foreigners,  and  do  not  speak 
Russian,  they  do  not  jabber  away  like  French  or  German  drivers,  or  Lon- 
don cahbies,  but  confine  themselves  to  a  very  few  words.  Take  one  we 
had  to-day,  for  example :  as  he  drove  along  he  called  our  attention  to  the 
churches  and  other  public  buildings  that  we  passed  by,  pronouncing  the 
name  of  the  building  and  nothing  more.  In  this  way  we  understood  him ; 
but  if  he  had  involved  the  name  with  a  dozen  or  twenty  other  words  we 
should  have  been  in  a  perfect  fog  about  it. 

"  In  winter  the  drosky  makes  way  for  the  sledge,  which  is  the  tiniest 
vehicle  of  the  kind  you  can  imagine.  Two  persons  can  crowd  into  a 
sledge,  though  there  is  really  room  for  only  one.  "Whether  you  are  one  or 
two,  you  sit  with  your  face  within  ten  or  twelve  inches  of  the  driver's 
back,  which  forms  almost  the  entire  feature  of  your  landscape.  The 
sledges  in  winter  are  even  more  numerous  than  are  the  droskies  in  sum- 
mer, as  many  persons  ride  then  who  do  not  do  so  when  the  weather  is 
warm. 

"  Everybody  rides  in  a  Russian  city  in  winter — at  least  everybody  who 
claims  to  have  much  respect  for  himself;  and  in  fact  riding  is  so  cheap 
that  it  must  be  a  very  shallow  purse  that  cannot  afford  it.  For  a  drive  of 
a  mile  or  less  you  pay  eight  or  ten  copecks  (ten  copecks  equal  eight  cents), 
and  you  can  ride  a  couple  of  miles  for  fifteen  copecks,  and  sometimes  for 
ten.  By  the  hour  you  pay  forty  or  fifty  copecks  ;  and  if  you  make  a 
bargain  you  can  have  the  vehicle  all  to  yourself  a  whole  day  for  a  dollar 
and  a  half,  and  sometimes  less.     They  go  very  fast ;  and  if  your  time  is 


62  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN   THE    RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

limited,  arid  you  want  to  see  a  good  deal  in  a  little  while,  it  is  the  best 
kind  of  economy  to  hire  an  isvoshchik  to  take  you  about." 

We  left  our  friends  on  the  way  to  the  hotel  when  we  wandered  off  to 
hear  what  Frank  had  to  say  about  the  droskies  and  their  drivers.  The 
ride  along  the  streets  was  full  of  interest  to  the  youths,  to  whom  it  was  all 
new ;  but  it  was  less  so  to  Doctor  Bronson,  who  had  been  in  St.  Peters- 
burg before.  They  drove  up  the  Vosnesenski  Prospect,  a  broad  avenue 
which  carried  them  past  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  one  of  the  in- 
teresting churches  out  of  the  many  in  the  city,  and  then  by  a  cross  street 
passed  into  the  Nevski  Prospect,  which  may  be  called  the  Broadway  of 
the  Russian  capital.     We  shall  hear  more  of  the  Nevski  Prospect  later  on. 

At  the  hotel  they  surrendered  their  passports  to  the  clerk  as  soon  as 
they  had  selected  their  rooms ;  the  Doctor  told  the  youths  they  would 
not  again  see  those  important  documents  until  they  had  settled  their  bill 
and  prepared  to  leave.  Frank  and  Fred  were  surprised  at  this  announce- 
ment, and  the  Doctor  explained  : 

"  The  passports  must  go  at  once  to  the  Central  Bureau  of  the  Police, 
and  we  shall  be  registered  as  stopping  in  this  hotel.  When  the  register 
has  been  made  the  passports  will  be  returned  to  the  hotel  and  locked  up 
in  the  managers  safe,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country." 

"  Why  doesn't  he  give  them  back  to  us  instead  of  locking  them  in  the 
safe  ?"  one  of  the  youths  incpiired. 

"  It  has  long  been  the  custom  for  the  house-owner  to  keep  the  pass- 
port of  any  one  lodging  with  him,  as  he  is  in  a  certain  sense  responsible 
for  his  conduct.  Besides,  it  enables  him  to  be  sure  that  nobody  leaves 
without  paying  his  bill,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  can't  get  away. 
When  we  are  ready  to  go  we  must  give  a  few  hours'  notice;  the  passports 
will  be  sent  to  the  police-office  again,  with  a  statement  as  to  our  destina- 
tion ;  after  we  have  paid  our  bills  and  are  ready  to  go,  the  passports  will 
be  handed  to  us  along  with  the  receipt  for  our  money." 

"  That  makes  hotel-keeping  a  great  deal  more  certain  than  it  is  in 
American  cities,  does  it  not  ?"  said  Fred. 

"  And  you  never  hear  in  Russia  of  a  man  running  away  from  a  hotel 
where  he  has  contracted  a  large  bill,  and  leaving  nothing  but  a  trunk  filled 
with  straw  and  stove-wood  as  security,  do  you  ?"  Frank  inquired. 

"  Such  a  thing  is  unknown,"  the  Doctor  answered.  "  I  once  told 
some  Russian  acquaintances  about  the  way  hotel-keepers  were  defrauded 
in  America  by  unprincipled  persons.  One  of  them  exclaimed,  '  What  a 
happy  country !  and  how  cheaply  a  man  could  live  there,  with  no  police 
officers  to  stop  his  enterprise  !'  " 


ATTENDANTS   ON  A  HIGH  OFFICIAL. 


64  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS    IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

"When  you  go  from  one  city  to  another,"  said  the  Doctor,  " the  (for- 
mality to  be  observed  is  slight,  and  the  hotel  people  will  attend  to  it  for 
you  without  charge.  When  you  are  going  to  leave  Russia,  a  few  days' 
notice  must  be  given  at  the  police-office ;  and  if  any  creditors  have  filed 
their  claims  against  you  with  the  police,  you  must  settle  them  before  you 
can  have  your  passport.  If  any  one  owes  you  money,  and  you  have  rea- 
son to  believe  he  intends  leaving  the  country,  you  can  stop  him  or  get 
your  money  by  leaving  your  account  with  the  police  for  collection.  Ab- 
sconding debtors  are  nearly  as  rare  in  Russia  as  absconding  hotel-patrons, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  the  law  restricts  their  movements.  In  spite  of 
what  our  English  friend  said  of  the  passport  system,  there  are  some  ex- 
cellent features  about  it.     Another  thing  is — " 

They  were  interrupted  by  a  servant,  who  came  to  ask  if  there  were 
any  friends  in  St.  Petersburg  whom  they  wished  to  find.  The  commis- 
sioner was  going  to  the  Police  Bureau  with  the  passports,  and  would  make 
any  inquiries  they  desired. 

The  Doctor  answered  in  the  negative,  and  the  servant  went  away. 

"  That  is  what  I  was  about  to  mention,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  as  soon 
as  the  door  was  closed.  "  The  first  time  I  came  to  St.  Petersburg  I  was 
riding  along  the  Nevski  Prospect,  and  saw  an  old  acquaintance  going  in 
the  other  direction.  He  did  not  see  me,  and  before  I  could  turn  to  fol- 
low him  he  was  lost  in  the  crowd  of  vehicles.  But  in  two  hours  I  found 
him,  and  we  had  a  delightful  afternoon  together.  How  do  you  suppose 
I  did  it  ? 

"  "Why,  I  sent  to  the  Police  Bureau,  paid  two  cents,  and  obtained  a 
memorandum  of  his  address.  For  a  fee  of  two  cents  you  can  get  the 
address  of  any  one  you  name,  and  for  two  cents  each  any  number  of  ad- 
dresses. In  numerous  instances  I  found  it  a  great  convenience,  and  so 
have  other  travellers.  If  you  wanted  to  find  a  friend  in  New  York  or  Lon- 
don, and  didn't  know  his  address,  you  would  have  a  nice  time  about  it ; 
but  in  Moscow  or  St.  Petersburg  there  would  be  no  trouble  whatever." 

As  soon  as  they  had  removed  the  dust  of  the  journey  our  friends  went 
out  for  a  stroll  before  dinner.  The  Hotel  de  l'Europe  is  on  the  corner  of 
the  Xevski  Prospect  and  one  of  the  smaller  streets,  and  only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  Kazansl't  Soljor,  or  Church  of  Kazan.  But  before  they 
enter  this  celebrated  edifice  we  will  look  with  them  at  the  grand  avenue, 
the  Xevski  Prospect. 

"It  is  straight  as  a  sunbeam  for  three  miles,"  said  Fred  in  his  note- 
book, "with  the  Admiralty  Buildings  at  one  end,  and  the  Church  of  St. 
Alexander  ^sevski  at  the  other,  though  the  latter  is  a  little  way  from  the 


THE  NEVSKI   PROSPECT. 


65 


line.  It  is  perfectly  level  from  end  to  end.  like  a  street  of  New  Orleans 
or  Sacramento.  St.  Petersburg  is  built  on  a  marsb,  and  through  its  whole 
extent  there  isn't  a  hill  other  than  an  artificial  one.  It  is  a  broad  avenue 
(one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  width),  reminding  us  of  the  boulevards  of 
Paris,  and  the  crowd  of  vehicles  coming  and  going  at  all  hours  of  the  day 
and  far  into  the  night  makes  the  scene  a  picturesque  one. 

"  All  classes  and  kinds  of  Russians  are  to  be  seen  here,  from  the  mil- 
jik,  with  his  rough  coat  of  sheepskin,  up  to  the  officer  of  the  army,  whose 


RUSSIAN    WORKMEN    ON    THEIR    WAY    HOME. 


breast  is  covered  with  decorations  by  the  dozen  or  even  more.  The  vehi- 
cles are  of  many  kinds,  the  drosky  being  the  most  frequent,  and  there  is 
hardly  one  of  them  without  the  duga,  or  yoke,  over  the  horse  between  the 
shafts.     The  horses  are  driven  furiously,  but  theyT  are  completely  under 


66 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


RUSSIAN    OFFICER    WITH    DECORATIONS. 


the  control  of  their  drivers,  and  accidents  are  said  to  be  very  rare.  Per- 
haps this  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  a  driver  is  liable  to  severe  punishment 
if  he  causes  any  injury  to  a  pedestrian. 

"  Somebody  lias  remarked  that  the  Nevski  Prospect  ought  to  be  called 
Toleration  Avenue,  for  the  reason  that  it  contains  churches  of  so  many 
different  faiths.  There  are  of  course  the  Russo-Greek  churches,  represent- 
ing the  religion  of  the  country,  and  there  are  Catholic,  Lutheran.  Dutch, 
and  Armenian  churches,  standing  peacefully  in  the  same  line.     It  is  a  pity 


THE   CHURCH   OF   KAZAN.  67 

that  the  adherents  of  these  diverse  religions  do  not  always  agree  as  well  as 
do  the  inanimate  edifices  that  represent  them. 

"  The  buildings  are  very  substantial  in  appearance,  and  many  of  them 
are  literally  palaces.  The  military  headquarters  are  on  the  Nevski,  and  so 
is  the  palace  of  one  of  the  grand-dukes ;  then  there  are  several  palaces 
belonging  to  noble  families.  There  is  the  Institution  of  St.  Catherine, 
and  the  Gostinna  Dvor,  or  Great  Market-place,  with  ten  thousand  mer- 
chants, more  or  less,  transacting  business  there.  We'll  go  there  to  make 
some  purchases  and  tell  you  about  it ;  at  present  we  will  cross  the  Nevski 
to  the  Church  of  Kazan. 

"  It  reminds  us  of  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,  as  it  has  a  colon- 
nade in  imitation  of  the  one  which  attracts  the  eye  of  every  visitor  to  the 
Eternal  City,  and  takes  its  name  from  "  Our  Lady  of  Kazan,"  to  whom  it 
is  dedicated.  Kazan  was  once  a  Tartar  city,  and  the  capital  of  the  Tartar 
kingdom  of  the  same  name.  It  was  fortified,  and  stoutly  defended,  and 
gave  the  Russians  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  In  the  sixteenth  century  John 
the  Terrible  conquered  the  kingdom  and  annexed  it  to  Russia.  The  last 
act  in  the  war  was  the  capture  of  the  city  of  Kazan.  The  Russians  were 
several  times  repulsed,  but  finally  the  Kremlin  was  carried,  and  the  Tartar 
power  came  to  an  end.  A  picture  of  the  Virgin  was  carried  in  front  of 
the  attacking  column,  and  this  picture,  all  devout  Russians  believe,  gave 
the  victory  over  the  Moslem.  The  church  was  built  in  memory  of  the 
event,  and  the  sacred  picture  from  Kazan  is  preserved  and  worshipped 
here. 

"It  is  a  beautiful  church,  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  two  hundred  and  thir- 
ty-eight feet  long  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet  wide.  From  the 
ground  to  the  top  of  the  cross  above  the  cupola  is  more  than  two  hundred 
and  thirty  feet,  and  the  cupola  is  so  large  that  it  is  visible  from  a  long  dis- 
tance. As  we  entered  the  church  we  were  struck  by  the  absence  of  seats. 
We  were  told  by  the  Doctor  that  Russian  churches  contain  no  seats,  and 
all  worshippers  must  stand  or  kneel  while  at  their  devotions.  To  this 
there  are  no  exceptions ;  the  same  requirement  being  made  of  the  Em- 
peror as  of  the  most  obscure  peasant. 

"There  is  no  instrumental  music  in  the  Greek  Church,  and  church 
choirs  composed  of  male  and  female  voices  are  unknown  here.  All  the 
singers  in  the  churches  are  men ;  the  prayers  are  mostly  intoned,  and  all 
the  congregation  joins  in  the  responses.  There  are  no  pews,  or  reserved 
places  of  any  kind,  except  a  standing-place  for  the  Emperor,  all  worship- 
pers being  considered  equal ;  neither  are  there  any  fees  to  be  paid  by 
those  who  come  to  worship. 


G8 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  The  picture  of  Our  Lady  of  Kazan,  which  has  such  a  miraculous  le- 
gend connected  with  it,  is  richly  covered  with  precious  stones,  said  to  be 
worth  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  There  are  other  costly  pictures 
in  the  church,  but  none  to  equal  this  one.  There  are  a  good  many  flags, 
and  other  trophies  of  war,  along  the  walls  and  around  the  pillars  ;  and,  to 
tell  the  truth,  it  has  almost  as  much  the  appearance  of  a  military  museum 
as  of  a  cathedral.  There  are  the  keys  of  Hamburg,  Leipsic,  and  other  cit- 
ies which  at  various  times  have  been  captured  by  Russia,  and  the  church 
contains  the  tombs  of  several  Russian  generals  who  were  killed  in  the  war 
with  France  in  IS  12. 

"We  observed  a  curious  effect  in  the  pictures  in  this  church  which 
we  found  afterwards  in  a  great  many  holy  pictures  in  Russia.     The  hands 

and  face,  and  any  other  flesh,  are 
painted  on  a  flat  surface,  but  the 
dress  and  ornaments  are  often 
raised  in  gold,  silver,  or  other  metal, 
and  studded  with  precious  stones, 
according  to  the  will  or  financial 
ability  of  the  owner.  The  Church 
rejects  all  massive  images  of  the 
Saviour  or  saints  as  idolatrous,  and 
says  they  violate  the  command- 
ment "  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto 
thyself  any  graven  image."  It 
does  not  exclude  mosaics,  and  any- 
thing produced  in  low  relief,  but  the 
rule  that  flesh  shall  be  represented 
by  a  flat  surface  is  imperative. 

"  "We  afterwards  attended  serv- 
ice in  the  Kazan  church,  and  were 
impressed  with  its  solemnity  and 
simplicity.  The  vocal  music  had 
an  admirable  effect  as  it  resounded 
through  the  vast  building,  and  we 
have  never  anywhere  seen  a  congre- 
gation more  devout  than  this.  Nearly  every  one  held  a  candle,  and  care- 
ts j  */ 

fully  guarded  the  flame  from  the  draughts  that  occasionally  swept  over 
the  congregation.  Illuminations  have  a  very  important  place  in  all 
church  ceremonies,  and  there  are  no  weddings,  betrothals,  funerals,  or  any 
other  sacred  services,  without  candles  or  tapers. 


A    RUSSIAN    rniKST. 


PIETY  OF  THE  RUSSIANS.  69 

"  Lights  are  kept  burning  in  front  of  the  principal  pictures  in  the 
churches.  Throughout  the  Empire  there  is  an  Eikon,  or  sacred  picture,  in 
the  principal  room  'of  every  house  whose  owner  is  an  adherent  of  the 
Church  of  the  country,  and  often  in  every  room  of  consequence.  On  en- 
tering a  room  where  there  is  such  a  picture,  every  devout  Russian  crosses 
himself ;  and  so  great  is  the  respect  shown  to  it,  that  when  Russian  thieves 
enter  a  room  for  the  purpose  of  stealing,  they  spread  a  handkerchief  over 
the  picture  so  that  the  saint  who  is  represented  upon  it  cannot  see  them. 

"  Religion  has  a  more  important  part  in  the  practical  life  of  the  Rus- 
sians than  in  that  of  any  other  people  of  Europe.  The  blessing  of  the 
Church  is  invoked  upon  every  undertaking.  Steamboats,  ships,  and  all 
other  craft  are  blessed  by  the  priest  at  their  launching  or  before  being 
put  into  service ;  the  locomotives  and  carriages  of  a  railway  are  similarly 
treated ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  every  vehicle,  machine,  or  other 
thing  of  consequence.  So  with  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  and  other  live-stock ; 
and  so,  also,  with  the  furniture  and  adornments  of  the  house. 

"  In  the  theatres  the  Government  does  not  allow  the  representation  of 
any  kind  of  religious  ceremonial  as  part  of  a  performance,  lest  it  might 
bring  religion  into  ridicule,  and  under  no  circumstances  can  an  actor  be 
dressed  to  personate  a  priest.  The  Czar,  or  Emperor,  is  the  recognized 
head  of  the  Church,  and  among  the  common  people  he  is  regarded  as 
only  a  little  less  than  a  divinity. 

"  Those  who  have  lived  long  among  the  Russians,  and  ought  to  know 
them,  say  the  venerative  feeling  among  the  common  people  is  very  «;reat, 
and  more  so  among  the  higher  classes  than  in  the  Latin  countries  of 
Europe.  They  are  devout  church-goers,  and  the  feasts  and  fasts  of  the 
Church  are  carefully  observed.  They  form  a  serious  drawback  to  business 
matters,  as  there  are  certain  days  when  no  man  or  woman  can  be  induced 
to  work  at  any  price.  The  owners  of  establishments  which  require  to 
be  kept  constantly  in  operation  manage  to  get  around  this  custom  by 
keeping  their  employes  constantly  in  debt,  as  the  Russian  law  and  custom 
compel  a  man  to  work  steadily  to  discharge  such  indebtedness. 

"  Pilgrimages  to  monasteries  and  shrines  are  more  common  among  the 
Russians  than  any  other  Christian  people,  and  the  poorer  classes  often  go 
on  long  and  painful  journeys  through  their  religious  zeal.  A  large  num- 
ber of  Russian  pilgrims  can  be  found  in  Jerusalem  every  year  at  Easter, 
as  well  as  at  other  times.  So  important  is  this  pilgrimage  that  the  Rus- 
sian Government  maintains  a  convent  at  Jerusalem  for  lodging  its  sub- 
jects ;  and  the  Crimean  war  practically  grew  out  of  a  quarrel  which  was 
brought  about  with  reference  to  the  holy  places  of  the  famous  city. 


70  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

"  Great  numbers  of  pilgrims  go  every  year  from  all  parts  of  Russia  to 
the  Convent  of  Solovetsk  in  the  Frozen  Sea,  seven  or  eight  hundred  miles 
to  the  north-east  of  the  capital. 

"  We  may  have  more  to  say  on  religious  matters  before  leaving  Russia, 
but  for  the  present  we  will  drop  the  subject  and  continue  our  walk  on 
the  Nevski." 

As  they  strolled  in  the  direction  of  the  Neva,  the  river  that  gives  its 
name  to  the  long  avenue,  Fred  asked  how  it  happened  that  St.  Petersburg 
was  built  on  a  marsh  instead  of  upon  elevated  ground. 

"  It  was  because  Peter  the  Great  wanted  a  capital  city  that  could  be  a 
seaport,  and  this  was  the  best  site  that  could  be  found.  Moscow  was  in- 
land (it  is  four  hundred  miles  from  here  to  that  city),  and  Peter  realized 
that  no  country  could  be  great  and  important  without  communication 
over  the  sea  to  other  lands.  So  he  came  here  and  founded  the  city 
which  bears  his  name.  It  was  a  forbidding  place,  but  his  will  was  law, 
and  the  city  grew  and  lived  though  a  hundred  thousand  men  perished  in 
the  first  year  of  its  construction.  The  first  house  was  built  in  1703.  In 
1712  Peter  declared  it  his  capital,  and  the  Imperial  court  was  moved 
here  from  Moscow.  For  a  long  time  the  place  was  very  unhealthy,  and 
even  down  to  the  present  day  it  is  not  by  any  means  the  best  location 
in  the  world  for  a  city.  The  drainage  is  defective,  the  drinking-water  is 
not  good,  especially  in  the  summer  season,  and  the  city  has  several  times 
suffered  from  inundations. 

"  For  many  years  every  vessel  coming  to  the  port,  and  every  cart  enter- 
ing the  city,  was  required  to  bring  a  certain  number  of  stones  for  filling 
the  marsh  and  paving  the  streets.  Where  the  large  buildings  stand,  fab- 
ulous amounts  Lave  been  expended  in  making  foundations,  and  many  of 
them  have  cost  more  than  the  buildings  that  stand  upon  them.  The 
foundations  of  the  Church  of  St.  Isaac  are  said  to  have  cost  four  millions 
of  dollars,  and  twenty-five  years  were  spent  in  their  construction." 

Frank  asked  about  the  inundations  mentioned  by  the  Doctor. 

"  There  have  been  some  eight  or  ten  of  them,"  the  Doctor  answered. 
"The  most  serious  inundation  of  this  century  was  in  1S24,  when  the 
water  of  the  Neva  rose  thirteen  feet  and  four  inches  above  its  ordinary 
level.  Observe  that  line,"  said  he,  as  he  pointed  to  a  mark  upon  a  build- 
ing ;  "that  is  the  point  to  which  the  waters  rose  in  the  inundation  of  1824." 

The  mark  was  nearly  four  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sidewalk  where 
they  stood.  Frank  and  Fred  regarded  it  with  astonishment,  while  the 
Doctor  continued : 

"In  a  single  night  (November  17th)  property  to  the  value  of  twenty 


CONVENT  OF  SOLOVETSK. 


71 


1      I'MpPPW-BiiFiii"' 


72 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN    EMPIRE. 


millions  of  dollars  was  destroyed,  and  it  was  estimated  that  not  less  than 
eight  thousand  people  lost  their  lives.  The  flood  was  caused  by  a  strong 
westerly  wind  which  combined  with  the  tide  and  forced  the  waters  in 


THE    INCNDATION   OF    1824. 


from  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  which  is  here  formed  like  a  funnel.  Now  sup- 
pose the  flood  had  occurred  in  April,  at  the  time  when  Lake  Ladoga  breaks 
up  and  pours  its  accumulated  ice  and  water  through  the  Neva,  what  would 
have  been  the  result  ?" 

"  Would  the  city  have  been  destroyed  ?"  queried  one  of  the  youths. 

"  So  it  is  said,  by  many  who  have  studied  its  position.     They  aver  that 


EFFECTS   OF  THE   INUNDATION. 


73 


when  a  high  tide,  a  westerly  wind,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  in  Lake 
Ladoga  shall  all  come  together,  the  streets  of  St.  Petersburg  will  be  not 
less  than  twenty  feet  under  water,  and  Russia  will  be  obliged  to  select  an- 
other site  for  her  capital.  But  as  it  is  not  likely  that  all  these  things  will 
happen  during  our  visit,  we  won't  borrow  any  trouble  about  the  matter." 

"  I  have  read,"  said  Fred,  "  that  in  that  inundation  the  prisoners  in 
the  fort  were  drowned  in  their  cells.  The  lower  part  of  the  fort  was 
flooded,  was  it  not  ?" 

"  Yes,"  the  Doctor  answered ;  "  but  so  many  romances  have  been 
written  on  the  subject  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  at  the  exact  truth.  It  is 
very  likely  that  the  prisoners  in  the  lower  cells  of  the  fort  were  drowned, 
and  I  believe  the  authorities  admit  that  such  was  the  case.  In  the  Paris 
Exhibition  of  1867  there  was  a  startling  picture  representing  the  death  of 


STATUE    OF    PETEK    THE    GREAT. 


a  Russian  princess  who  was  imprisoned  there  at  the  time.  She  is  repre- 
sented standing  on  her  little  bed  surrounded  by  rats  that  have  been 
driven  from  their  holes  by  the  flood.  The  water  is  nearly  up  to  the  level 
of  the  bed,  and  is  pouring  in  at  the  grated  window.     The  picture  haunted 


74  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

me  for  years  after  I  saw  it,  and  even  now  it  occasionally  comes  up  in  my 
dreams.  I  haven't  thought  of  it  for  some  time,  but  this  question  of  yours 
has  revived  it." 

They  continued  their  walk  towards  the  Xeva,  with  an  occasional  glance 
at  the  needle-like  spire  that  rises  above  the  Admiralty  buildings.  They 
came  out  into  Admiralty  Square,  a  large  o])en  space,  which  gave  them  a 
view  of  the  Admiralty  buildings,  the  Church  of  St.  Isaac,  the  equestrian 
statue  of  Peter  the  Great,  and  the  "Winter  Palace,  together  with  one  of  the 
bridges  spanning  the  Neva  to  the  islands  opposite. 

"  Which  shall  we  see  first  ?"  queried  the  Doctor  of  his  young  com- 
panions. 

"Whichever  you  think  best,"  answered  Frank, to  which  Fred  nodded 
approval. 

"  Our  time  just  now  is  limited,"  said  the  Doctor,  "and  perhaps  we  will 
satisfy  ourselves  with  the  statue  of  Peter  the  Great.  But  as  we  walk 
about  we  must  not  fail  to  take  in  the  general  view,  which  is  of  unusual 
interest." 

The  statue  is  well  known  through  its  frequent  representation  in  en- 
gravings, and  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  monuments  of  the  Imperial 
city.  It  was  ordered  by  the  Empress  Catherine,  and  was  cast  by  Falconet. 
a  Frenchman.     The  inscription  upon  it  reads — 

"Peteu  Pervomc— EKATERIXA  VTOEYA." 
{To  Peter  I. — By  Catherine  II,  jidcclxxxii.) 

Evidently  Catherine  had  a  sufficient  idea  of  her  consequence,  as  the  letters 
which  make  her  name  are  considerably  larger  than  those  of  her  illustrious 
sire's. 

"  The  horse,"  said  Fred,  in  his  note-book,  "  is  on  the  brink  of  a  preci- 
pice, where  he  is  being  reined  in  by  his  rider.  Peter's  face  is  towards  the 
Xeva,  while  his  right  hand  is  directed  to  the  city  which  he  built.  Under 
the  horse's  feet  is  a  serpent,  which  typifies  the  difficulties  the  Czar  has 
overcome.  The  horse  is  balanced  on  his  hind  legs  and  tail,  his  forefeet 
being  clear  from  the  rock.  It  is  said  that  the  weight  of  the  statue  is 
about  ten  thousand  pounds. 

"  The  statue  stands  on  a  block  of  granite  that  originally  weighed  fif- 
teen hundred  tons,  and  was  brought  from  Finland.  The  block  is  fourteen 
feet  high,  twenty  feet  broad,  and  forty-three  feet  long.  It  consists  of  two 
pieces  that  have  been  carefully  joined  together,  and  the  operation  of  mov- 
ing it  was  a  triumph  of  engineering  skill. 

"  I  have  read  a  good  story  apropos  of  this  monument — about  two  boys 


AN  AMUSING   INCIDENT. 


75 


ivho  belonged  to  an  English  ship  that  was  lying  at  the  quay  beyond  the 
statue.  They  had  wandered  off  into  the  city  and  lost  their  way,  and  in 
order  to  get  back  they  engaged  a  carriage.  But  after  engaging  it  they 
were  in  trouble,  as  they  could  not  tell  the  driver  where  to  go. 

"Two  sailors  from  the  same  ship  happened  along,  and  to  them  the 
boys  told  the  story  of  their  perplexity.  The  sailors  were  in  the  same 
predicament,  as  they  wanted  to  get  back  to  the  ship,  and  didn't  know 
which  way  to  go. 


IMPROVISING    A    STATU:. 


" '  If  we  only  knew  what  the  Russian  is  for  that  statue,'  said  one  of 
the  boys, '  we  could  make  him  understand.' 

"  They  tried  all  the  words  they  knew,  but  to  no  purpose.  Suddenly 
an  idea  occurred  to  one  of  the  sailors.  He  asked  the  other  to  get  down  on 
all- fours,  which  he  did,  wondering  what  was  the  matter  with  his  comrade. 
Jack  mounted  his  friend's  back  as  though  he  were  a  steed,  and  took  the 
attitude  of  Peter  the  Great  as  nearly  as  he  could  remember  it.  The  other 
sailor  caught  at  the  idea,  and  reared  slightly  on  his  feet  in  the  position 
of  Peter's  horse.  The  isvoshchiks  comprehended  what  was  wanted,  and 
roared  with  delight ;  the  two  sailors  jumped  into  a  drosky,  which  fol- 
lowed the  carriage  containing  the  boys,  and  in  due  time  the  party  arrived 
safely  at  its  destination." 


76  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DINNER  IN  A  RUSSIAN  RESTAURANT.— CABBAGE  SOUP,  FISH  PIES,  AND  OTHER  ODD 
DISHES.— THE  SAMOVAR  AND  ITS  USES.— RUSSIAN  TEA  -  DRINKERS.— JOLTAJ 
CHAL— ALEXANDER'S  COLUMN— FORTRESS  OF  STS.  PETER  AND  PAUL.— IMPE- 
RIAL ASSASSINATIONS.  — SKETCHES  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  — RUSSIAN  POLICE  AND 
THEIR  WAYS. 

INSTEAD  of  returning  to  the  hotel  for  dinner,  our  friends  went  to  a 
traJdir,  or  Russian  restaurant,  in  a  little  street  running  out  of  Admi- 
ralty Square.  The  youths  were  anxious  to  try  the  national  dishes  of  the 
country,  and  consequently  they  accepted  with  pleasure  Doctor  Brouson's 
suggestion  relative  to  their  dining-place. 

"The  finest  and  most  characteristic  restaurants  of  Russia  are  in  Mos- 
cow rather  than  in  St.  Petersburg,"  said  the  Doctor,  as  he  led  the  way  to 
the  establishment  they  had  decided  to  patronize.  "  St.  Petersburg  has  a 
great  many  French  and  German  features  that  you  do  not  find  in  Moscow, 
and  when  we  get  to  the  latter  city  we  must  not  fail  to  go  to  the  '  Mos- 
kovski  Traktir,'  which  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  feeding-places  of  the 
old  capital.  There  the  waiters  are  clad  in  silk  shirts,  or  frocks,  extending 
nearly  to  the  knee,  over  loose  trousers  of  the  same  material.  At  the  estab- 
lishment where  we  are  now  going  the  dress  is  that  of  the  ordinary  French 
restaurant,  and  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  some  one  who  speaks 
either  French  or  German." 

They  found  the  lower  room  of  the  restaurant  filled  with  men  solacing 
themselves  with  tea,  which  they  drank  from  glasses  filled  and  refilled  from 
pots  standing  before  them.  On  each  table  was  a  steaming  samovar  to  sup- 
ply boiling  water  to  the  teapots  as  fast  as  they  were  emptied.  The  boys 
had  seen  the  samovar  at  railway-stations  and  other  places  since  their  en- 
trance into  the  Empire,  but  had  not  thus  far  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of 
examining  it. 

"We  will  have  a  samovar  to  ourselves,"  said  the  Doctor,  as  they 
mounted  the  stairs  to  an  uj>per  room,  "  and  then  you  can  study  it  as 
closely  as  you  like." 

The  Russian  bill  of  fare  was  too  much  for  the  reading  abilities  of  any 
one  of  the  trio.    The  Doctor  could  spell  out  some  of  the  words,  but  found 


RUSSIAN   DINNERS. 


77 


they  would  get  along  better  by  appealing  to  one  of  the  waiters.  Under 
his  guidance  they  succeeded  very  well,  as  we  learn  from  Frank's  account 
of  the  dinner. 

"  Doctor  Bronson  told  us  that  cabbage  soup  was  the  national  dish  of 
the  country,  and  so  we  ordered  it,  under  the  mysterious  name  of  tschee  e 
karsha.  The  cabbage  is  chopped,  and  then  boiled  till  it  falls  into  shreds ; 
a  piece  of  meat  is  cooked  with  it ;  the  soup  is  seasoned  with  pepper  and 
salt ;  and  altogether  the  tschee  (soup)  is  decidedly  palatable.  Karsha  is 
barley  thoroughly  boiled,  and  then  dried  over  the  fire  until  the  grains  fall 
apart.  A  saucerful  of  this  cooked  barley  is  supplied  to  you  along  with  the 
soup,  and  you  eat  them  together.     You  may  mingle  the  karsha  with  the 


TEA-SELLERS    IN    THE    STREETS. 


tschee  as  you  would  mix  rice  with  milk,  but  the  orthodox  way  of  eating  is 
to  take  a  small  quantity  of  the  karsha  into  your  spoon  each  time  before 
dipping  it  into  the  soup.  A  substantial  meal  can  be  made  of  these  arti- 
cles alone,  and  there  are  millions  of  the  subjects  of  his  Imperial  Majesty 
the  Czar  who  dine  to-day  and  many  other  days  in  the  year  on  nothing 
else.     The  Emperor  eats  tschee,  and  so  does  the  peasant  —  probably  the 


78 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


Emperor  lias  it  less  often  in  the  year  than  does  his  poor  subject ;  but  the 
soup  is  of  the  same  kind,  except  that  very  often  the  peasant  cannot  afford 
the  important  addition  of  meat." 

"  Don't  forget,"  Fred  interposed,  when  the  foregoing  description  was 


RUSSIAN    RESTAURANT    AT    THE    l'AKIS    EXPOSITION. 


read  to  him — "don't  forget  to  say  that  they  served  us  a  little  cup  or  mug 
of  sour  cream  along  with  the  tschee." 

"Yes,  that's  so,"  responded  Frank;  "but  I  didn't  like  it  particularly, 
and  therefore  came  near  forgetting  it.  We  remember  best  the  things  that 
please  us." 

"  Then  perhaps  you  didn't  like  the  sakushka,  or  appetizer,  before  din- 
ner," said  the  Doctor,  "as  I  see  you  haven't  mentioned  it." 

"I  hadn't  forgotten  it,"  said  the  youth, "  but  was  going  to  say  some- 
thing about  it  at  the  end.  You  know  the  preface  of  a  book  is  always 
written  after  the  rest  of  the  volume  has  been  completed,  but  as  you've 
called  attention  to  it,  I'll  dispose  of  it  now.     Here  it  is : 

"  There  was  a  side-table,  on  which  were  several  plates  containing  rel- 
ishes of  different  kinds,  such  as  caviare,  raw  herring,  dried  beef,  smoked 


THE  ZAKUSHKA. 


19 


salmon  cut  in  little  strips  or  squares,  radishes,  cheese,  butter,  and  tiny  sand- 
wiches about  the  size  of  a  half-dollar.  A  glass  of  cordial,  of  which  sev- 
eral kinds  were  offered,  goes  with  the  sakushka  for  those  who  like  it ;  the 
cordial  and  a  few  morsels  of  the  solid  things  are  supposed  to  sharpen  the 
appetite  and  prepare  it  for  the  dinner  which  is  to  be  eaten  at  the  table. 

"  The  sakushka  is  inseparable  from  a  dinner  in  Russia,  and  belongs  to 
it  just  as  much  as  do  any  of  the  dishes  that  are  served  after  the  seats  are 
taken.  While  we  were  standing  around  the  side-table  where  it  was  served 
at  our  first  dinner  in  St.  Petersburg,  Doctor  Bronson  told  us  a  story  that 
is  too  good  to  be  lost.     I'll  try  to  give  it  in  his  words : 

"There  was  once  a  Russian  soldier  who  had  a  phenomenal  appetite; 
he  could  eat  an  incredible  quantity  of  food  at  a  sitting,  and  the  officers  of 


AX    OUT-DOOR    TEA-PARTY. 


his  regiment  used  to  make  wagers  with  strangers  about  his  feeding  abili- 
ties. They  generally  won  ;  and  as  the  soldier  always  received  a  present 
when  he  had  gained  a  bet,  he  exerted  himself  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

"  One  day  the  colonel  made  a  wager  for  a  large  amount  that  his  man 
could  eat  an  entire  sheep  at  a  sitting.  The  sheep  was  selected,  slaugh- 
tered, and  sent  to  a  restaui'ant,  and  at  the  appointed  time  the  colonel  ap- 
peared with  the  soldier.  In  order  to  help  the  man  along,  the  keeper  of 
the  restaurant  had  cooked  the  different  parts  of  the  sheep  in  various  ways ; 


SO  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

there  were  broiled  and  fried  cutlets,  roasted  and  boiled  quarters,  and  some 
stews  and  hashes  made  from  the  rest.  Dish  after  dish  disappeared.  When 
almost  the  entire  sheep  had  been  devoured,  the  soldier  turned  to  the  colo- 
nel and  said, 

"'If  you  give  me  so  much  zakushha  I'm  afraid  I  sha'n't  be  able  to 
eat  all  of  the  sheep  when  they  bring  it.'  " 

"But  to  return  to  soups.  In  addition  to  tschee,  the  Russians  have 
uTcha,  or  fish  soup,  made  of  any  kind  of  fish  that  is  in  season.  The  most 
expensive  is  made  from  sterlet,  a  tish  that  is  found  only  in  the  Yolga,  and 
sometimes  sells  for  its  weight  in  silver.  "We  tried  it  one  day,  and  liked 
it  very  much,  but  it  costs  too  much  for  frequent  eating  except  by  the 
wealthy.  A  very  good  fish  soup  is  made  from  trout,  and  another  from 
perch. 

"After  the  soup  we  had  npirog,  or  pie  made  of  the  spinal  cord  of  the 
sturgeon  cut  into  little  pieces  about  half  as  large  as  a  pea.  It  resembles 
isinglass  in  appearance  and  is  very  toothsome.  The  pie  is  baked  in  a  deep 
dish,  with  two  crusts,  an  upper  and  an  under  one.  Doctor  Bronson  says 
the  Russians  make  all  kinds  of  fish  into  pies  and  patties,  very  much  as  we 
make  meat  pies  at  home.  They  sometimes  put  raisins  in  these  pies — a 
practice  which  seems  very  incongruous  to  Americans  and  English.  They 
also  make  soliaiika,  a  dish  composed  of  fish  and  cabbage,  and  not  at  all 
bad  when  one  is  hungry ;  red  or  black  pepper  liberally  applied  is  an  im- 
provement. 

"  "What  do  you  think  of  ohroshJca — a  soup  made  of  cold  beer,  with 
pieces  of  meat,  cucumber,  and  red  herrings  floating  in  it  along  with  hits 
of  ice  to  keep  it  cool?  Don't  want  any.  Xeither  do  we;  but  the  Rus- 
sians of  the  lower  classes  like  it,  and  I  have  heard  Russian  gentlemen 
praise  it.  Many  of  them  are  fond  of  batveaia,  which  is  a  cold  soup  made 
in  much  the  same  way  as  ohroshJca,  and  about  as  unpalatable  to  us.  We 
ordered  a  portion  of  ohroshJca  just  to  see  how  it  looked  and  tasted.  One 
teaspoonful  was  enough  for  each  of  us,  and  batvenia  we  didn't  try. 

"After  the  pirog  we  had  cutlets  of  chicken,  and  then  roast  mutton 
stuffed  with  buckwheat,  both  of  them  very  good.  They  offered  us  some 
boiled  pig  served  cold,  with  horseradish  sauce,  but  we  didn't  try  it ;  and 
then  they  brought  roast  grouse,  with  salted  cucumbers  for  salad.  We 
wound  up  with  JSTesselrode  pudding,  made  of  plum-pudding  and  ices,  and 
not  unknown  in  other  countries.  Then  we  had  the  samovar,  which  had 
been  made  ready  for  us,  and  drank  some  delicious  tea  which  we  prepared 
ourselves.    Xow  for  the  samovar. 

"Its  name  comes  from  two  words  which  mean  'self-boiling;'  and  the 


HABITS   OF  TEA-DRINKERS. 


HI 


samovar  is  nothing  but  an  urn  of  brass  or  copper,  with  a  cylinder  in  the 
centre,  where  a  fire  is  made  with  charcoal.  The  water  surrounds  the 
cylinder,  and  is  thus  kept  at  the  boiling-point,  which  the  Russians  claim 
is  indispensable  to  the  making  of  good  tea.     The  beverage  is  drank  not 


RBSSIAB    MUJIKS    DRINKING    TKA. 


from  cups,  but  from  glasses,  and  the  number  of  glasses  it  will  contain  is 
the  measure  of  a  samovar.  The  Russians  rarely  put  milk  with  their  tea  ; 
the  common  people  never  do  so,  and  the  upper  classes  only  when  they 
have  acquired  the  habit  while  abroad.  They  rarely  dissolve  sugar  in  their 
tea,  but  nibble  from  a  lump  after  taking  a  swallow  of  the  liquid.  A 
peasant  will  make  a  single  lump  serve  for  four  or.  five  glasses  of  tea, 
and  it  is  said  to  be  an  odd  sensation  for  a  stranger  to  hear  the  nibbling 

0 


S2 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IX   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


and  grating  of  lumps  of  sugar  when  a  party  of  Russians  is  engaged  in 
tea-drinking. 

"  "We  sat  late  over  the  samovar,  and  then  paid  our  bill  and  returned  to 
the  Square.     Doctor  Bronson  told  us  that  an  enormous  quantity  of  tea  is 

consumed  in  Russia,  but  very  lit- 
tle coffee.  Formerly  all  the  tea 
used  in  the  Empire  was  brought 
overland  from  China  by  way  of 
Siberia,  and  the  business  enabled 
the  importers  of  tea  to  accumu- 
late great  fortunes.  Down  to 
1860  only  one  cargo  of  tea  an- 
nually was  brought  into  Russia 
by  sea,  all  the  rest  of  the  impor- 
tation being  through  the  town  of 
Kiaclita,  on  the  frontier  of  Mon- 
golia. Since  I860  the  ports  of 
the  Empire  have  been  opened  to 
tea  brought  from  China  by  wa- 
ter, and  the  trade  of  Kiaclita  has 
greatly  diminished.  But  it  is 
still  very  large,  and  long  trains 
of  sledges  come  every  winter 
through  Siberia  laden  with  the 
tea  which  has  been  brought  to 
Kiachta  on  the  backs  of  camels 
from  the  districts  where  it  is 
grown. 

"  There  is  one  kind  of  the 
Chinese  herb,  called  joltai  chai 
(yellow  tea),  which  is  worth  at  retail  about  fifteen  dollars  a  pound.  It 
is  said  to  be  made  from  the  blossom  of  the  tea-plant,  and  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  find  out  of  Russia,  as  all  that  is  produced  comes  here  for  a  mar- 
ket. We  each  had  a  cup  of  this  tea  to  finish  our  dinner  with,  and  noth- 
ing more  delicious  was  ever  served  from  a  teapot.  The  infusion  is  a  pale 
yellow,  or  straw -color,' and  to  look  at  appears  weak  enough,  but  it  is 
unsafe  to  take  more  than  one  cup  if  you  do  not  wish  to  be  kept  awake 
all  night.  Its  aroma  fills  the  room  when  it  is  poured  out.  All  the  pens 
in  the  world  cannot  describe  the  song  of  the  birds  or  the  perfume  of  the 
flowers,  and  so  my  pen  is  unable  to  tell  you  about  the  aroma  and  taste 


PLANT    FROM    WHICH    YELLOW    TEA    IS    MADE. 


MONUMENTS   IN   ST.  PETERSBURG. 


83 


of  jolted  chai.  We'll  get  a  small  box  of  the  best  and  send  it  Lome  for 
you  to  try." 

It  was  so  late  in  the  day  when  our  friends  had  finished  their  dinner 
and  returned  to  the  Square,  that  there  was  not  much  time  left  for  sight- 
seeing. They  were  in  front  of  the  Winter  Palace  and  St.  Isaac's  Church, 
but  decided  to  leave  them  until  another  day.  Fred's  attention  was  drawn 
to  a  tall  column  between  the  Winter  Palace  and  a  crescent  of  lofty  build- 
ings called  the  Etat-inajor,  or  staff  headquarters,  and  he  asked  the  Doctor 
what  it  was. 

"That  is  the  Alexander  Column,"  was  the  reply  to  the  question.  ''It 
is  one  of  the  largest  monoliths  or  single  shafts  of  modern  times,  and  was 
erected  in  1832  in  memory  of  Alexander  I." 

"What  a  splendid  column  !"  said  Frank.     "I  wonder  how  high  it  is." 


-e.  .;■ 


■i.iJiiiiiiiiiiifirfin 

, rnujiiiiiiirriii.il  i 

.iWiiiiiiiDjj.i.r 


"-rSri'if--"— >2§s  - 

r^TWrPiirPl  i  iTn  n  I  i  1 1 1 1 1 1 1  • '  ■ 

liniinilllllllllllllllllli; 
niMiiiTuiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiJij 


COLUMN    IN    MEMOKY    OF    ALEXANDER    I. 


Thereupon  the  youths  fell  to  guessing  at  the  height  of  the  column. 
After  they  had  made  their  estimates — neither  of  them  near  the  mark  but 
considerably  below  it — Doctor  Bronson  gave  them  its  dimensions. 


84  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

"The  shaft,  without  pedestal  or  capital,  is  fourteen  feet  in  diameter 
and  eighty-four  feet  high  ;  it  was  originally  one  hundred  and  two  feet 
high,  but  was  reduced  through  fear  that  its  length  was  out  of  proportion 
to  its  diameter.  The  base  and  pedestal  are  one  single  block  of  red  granite 
about  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  the  capital  is  sixteen  feet  high.  The 
angel  above  the  capital  is  fourteen  feet  tall,  and  the  cross  in  the  hands  of 
the  angel  is  seven  feet  above  it.  With  the  platform  on  which  it  rests, 
the  whole  structure  rises  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  feet  from  the  level  of 
the  ground." 

"  They  must  have  had  a  hard  time  to  make  the  foundations  in  this 
marshy  ground,"  one  of  the  boys  remarked. 

"  They  drove  six  rows  of  piling  there,  one  after  the  other,  before  get- 
ting a  foundation  to  suit  them,"  said  the  Doctor.  "The  shaft  alone, 
which  was  put  up  in  the  rough  and  finished  afterwards,  is  thought  to 
weigh  about  four  hundred  tons,  and  the  pedestal  and  base  nearly  as  much 
more.  Unfortunately  the  shaft  has  suffered  from  the  effects  of  the  severe 
climate,  and  may  be  destroyed  at  no  distant  day.  Several  cracks  have 
been  made  by  the  frost,  and  though  they  have  been  carefully  cemented, 
they  continue  to  increase  in  size.  Pieces  have  fallen  from  the  surface  of 
the  stone  in  the  same  way  that  they  have  fallen  from  the  Egyptian  obelisk 
in  New  York,  and  it  is  very  evident  that  the  climate  of  St.  Petersburg  is 
unfriendly  to  monuments  of  granite." 

The  bronze  on  the  pedestal  and  capital  is  from  Turkish  cannon  which 
were  melted  down  for  the  purpose.  The  only  inscription  is  in  the  few 
words, 

"TO    ALEXANDER   THE    FIEST,  GRATEFUL    RUSSIA." 

Frank  made  a  sketch  of  the  monument  together  with  the  buildings  of 
the  Mat-major  and  a  company  of  soldiers  that  marched  past  the  foot  of 
the  column.  Doctor  Bronson  said  the  soldiers  belonged  to  the  guard 
of  the  palace,  where  they  had  been  on  duty  through  the  day,  and  had 
just  been  relieved. 

From  the  column  and  the  buildings  surrounding  it  the  trio  of  strangers 
walked  to  the  bank  of  the  river  and  watched  the  boats  on  the  water, 
where  the  setting  sun  slanted  in  long  rays  and  filled  the  air  with  the 
mellow  light  peculiar  to  high  latitudes  near  the  close  of  day.  It  was 
early  in  September,  and  already  the  evening  air  had  a  touch  of  coolness 
about  it.  St.  Petersburg  is  in  latitude  (30°  North,  and  consequently  is  quite 
near  the  Arctic  Circle.  Doctor  Bronson  told  the  youths  that  if  they  had 
come  there  in  July  they  would  have  found  very  little  night,  the  sun  set- 


DAYS   AND   NIGHTS   IN   THE    CAPITAL. 


85 


tins'  not  far  from  ten  o'clock  and  rising  about  two.  In  the  four  hours 
of  night  there  is  almost  continuous  twilight ;  and  by  mounting  to  the 
top  of  a  high  building  at  midnight  one  can  see  the  position  of  the  sun 
below  the  northern  horizon.  Any  one  who  goes  to  bed  after  sunset 
and  rises  before  sunrise  would  have  very  little  sleep  in  St.  Petersburg 
in  summer. 

"  On  the  other  hand,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  the  nights  of  winter  are  very 


PETER    THE    GREAT. 


long.  Winter  is  the  gay  season  here,  as  the  city  is  deserted  by  fashionable 
people  in  summer,  and  one  is  not  expected  to  make  visits.  The  Imperial 
court  goes  away ;  the  Emperor  has  a  palace  at  Yalta  in  the  Crimea,  and 
there  he  passes  the  autumn  months,  unless  kept  in  St.  Petersburg  or 
Moscow  by  the  affairs  of  the  nation.     They  have  some  public  festivities 


86  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

here  in  summer,  but  not  general]}',  most  of  the  matters  of  this  kind  being 
reserved  for  the  winter." 

Boats  were  moving  in  all  directions  on  the  placid  waters  of  the  river, 
darting  beneath  the  magnificent  bridge  that  stretches  across  the  stream, 
and  carrying  little  parties,  who  sought  recreation  or  were  on  errands  of 
business.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Xeva,  and  beyond  the  Winter 
Palace,  was  the  grim  fortress  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul,  with  whose  history 
many  tales  of  horror  are  connected,  and  where  numerous  prisoners  of 
greater  or  less  note  have  been  confined.  "  It  was  there,"  said  Doctor 
Bronson,  "  that  Peter  the  Great  caused  his  son  Alexis  to  be  put  to  death." 

"  Caused  his  son  to  be  put  to  death !"  exclaimed  the  youths  together. 

"Yes,  it  is  generally  believed  that  such  was  the  case,"  the  Doctor  an- 
swered, "though  the  fact  is  not  actually  known.  Alexis,  the  son  of  Peter 
the  Great,  was  opposed  to  his  father's  reforms,  and  devotedly  attached  to 
the  old  superstitions  and  customs  of  Russia.  Peter  decided  to  exclude 
him  from  the  throne ;  the  son  consented,  and  announced  his  desire  to 
enter  a  monastery,  from  which  he  managed  to  escape  to  Austria,  where 
he  sought  the  protection  of  the  Emperor  of  that  country.  Peter  sent 
one  of  his  generals  in  pursuit  of  Alexis;  by  a  combination  of  threats  and 
promises  he  was  induced  to  return  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  was  thrown 
into  prison,  and  afterwards  tried  for  high -treason  and  condemned  to 
death.  Peter  pardoned  but  did  not  release  him.  On  the  7th  of  July, 
1718,  he  died  suddenly,  and  it  was  and  is  now  generally  believed  that  he 
was  poisoned  or  beheaded  by  his  father's  order." 

"  And  was  he  really  guilty  of  high-treason  ?"  Fred  asked. 

"  According  to  Pussian  law  and  custom,  and  particularly  according  to 
the  law  and  custom  of  Peter  the  Great,  he  certainly  was,"  Doctor  Bronson 
replied.  "  Remember,  the  Emperor  is  autocratic  in  his  power,  at  least  in 
theory,  and  in  Peter's  time  he  was  so  actually.  The  will  of  the  founder 
of  the  Pussian  Empire  was  law ;  Alexis  was  opposed  to  that  will,  and  con- 
sequently opposed  to  the  Imperial  law.  The  progress  of  Pussia  was  more 
in  the  eyes  of  Peter  than  the  life  of  any  human  being,  not  even  excepting 
his  own  son,  and  the  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne.  The  proceedings  of 
the  trial  were  published  by  Peter  as  a  justification  of  his  act. 

"Peter  II.,  the  son  of  Alexis  and  grandson  of  the  great  Peter,  died 
suddenly,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  ;  Peter  III.,  grandchild  of  Peter  the  Great 
through  his  daughter  Anna,  was  the  husband  of  the  Empress  Catherine  II. ; 
but  his  reign  was  very  short.  His  life  with  Catherine  was  not  the  hap- 
piest in  the  world,  and  in  less  than  eight  months  after  he  became  Em- 
peror she  usurped  the   throne,  deposed  her  husband,  and  caused  him  to 


AX   IMPERIAL   MURDER. 


87 


be  strangled.  Catherine  was  a  German  princess,  but  declared  herself 
thoroughly  Russian  when  she  came  to  reside  in  the  Empire.  If  history  is 
correct,  she  made  a  better  ruler  than  the  man  she  put  aside,  but  this  can 
be  no  justification  of  her  means  of  attaining  power. 

"  Her  son,  Paul  I.,  followed  the  fate  of  his  father  in  being  assassinated, 
but  it  was  not  by  her  orders.     She  brought  him  up  in  complete  ignorance 


ASSASSINATION   OF   PETKU   III. 


of  public  affairs,  and  compelled  him  to  live  away  from  the  Imperial  court. 
Until  her  death,  in  1796,  she  kept  him  in  retirement,  although  she  had 
his  sons  taken  to  court  and  educated  under  her  immediate  supervision. 
Treatment  like  this  was  calculated  to  make  him  whimsical  and  revengeful, 
and  when  he  became  emperor  he  tried  to  undo  every  act  of  his  mother 
and  those  about  her.  He  disbanded  her  armies,  made  peace  with  the 
countries  with  which  she  was  at  war,  reversed  her  policy  in  everything, 
and  became  a  most  bitter  tyrant  towards  his  own  people.  He  issued  ab- 
surd orders,  and  at  length  his  acts  bordered  on  insanity. 

"  A  conspiracy  was  formed  among  some  of  the  noblemen,  who  repre- 


88  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

sented  to  his  son  Alexander  that  it  was  necessary  to  secure  the  abdication 
of  his  father  on  the  ground  of  incapacity.  Late  at  night,  March  23d, 
1801,  they  went  to  his  bedroom  and  presented  a  paper  for  him  to  sign. 
lie  refused,  and  was  then  strangled  by  the  conspirators.     Alexander  I. 


was  proclaimed  emperor,  and  the  announcement  of  Paul's  death  was 
hailed  with  delight  by  his  oppressed  stibjects.  Among  the  foolish  edicts 
he  issued  was  one  which  forbade  the  wearing  of  round  hats.  "Within  an 
hour  after  his  death  became  known,  great  numbers  of  round  hats  were  to 
be  seen  on  the  streets. 

"  You've  had  enough  of  the  history  of  the  Imperial  family  of  Russia 
for  the  present,"  said  the  Doctor,  after  a  pause,  "and  now  we'll  look  at 
the  people  on  the  streets.  It  is  getting  late,  and  we'll  go  to  the  hotel, 
making  our  observations  on  the  way. 

"  Here  are  distinct  types  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Empire,"  the  Doc- 
tor remarked,  as  they  passed  two  men  who  seemed  to  be  in  animated  con- 
versation. "  The  man  with  the  round  cap  and  long  coat  is  a  Russian 
peasant,  while  the  one  with  the  hood  over  his  head  and  falling  down  to 
his  shoulders  is  a  Finn,  or  native  of  Finland." 

"  How  far  is  it  from  here  to  Finland  i1"  Frank  asked. 

"Only  over  the  river,"  the  Doctor  replied.     "You  cross  the  Xeva  to 


THE   GOVERNMENT   OE   FINLAND. 


89 


its  opposite  bank,  and  you  are  in  what  was  once  the  independent  duchy 
of  Finland,  but  has  long  been  incorporated  with  Russia.  When  Peter  the 
Great  came  here  he  did  not  like  to  be  so  near  a  foreign  country,  and  so 
made  up  his  mind  to  convert  Finland  into  Russian  territory.  The  inde- 
pendence of  the  duchy  was  maintained  for  some  time,  but  in  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century  Russia  defeated  the  armies  of  Finland,  and  the 
country  was  permanently  occupied.  Finland  has  its  constitution,  which 
is  based  on  that  of  Sweden,  and  when  it  was  united  with  Russia  the  con- 
stitutional rights  of  the  people  were  guaranteed.  The  country  is  ruled  by 
a  govern  or-  general,  who  is  appointed  by  Russia ;  it  has  a  parliament  for 


RUSSIAN    AND    FINN. 


presenting  the  grievances  and  wishes  of  the  people,  but  all  acts  must  re- 
ceive the  approval  of  the  Imperial  Government  before  they  can  become 
the  law  of  the  land." 

''What  are  those  men  standing  in  front  of  a  building?"  said  Fred,  as 
he  pointed  to  a  fellow  with  a  broom  talking  with  another  in  uniform. 

"  The  one  in  uniform  is  a  postman,"  was  the  reply,  "  and  the  other  is  a 
dwmik,  or  house  guardian.     The  dvornik  sweeps  the  sidewalk  in  front  of 


'JO 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


a  house  and  looks  after  the  entrance  ;  be  corresponds  to  the  porter,  or  por- 
tier,  of  other  countries,  and  is  supposed  to  know  the  names  of  all  the  ten- 
ants of  the  building.     The  postman  is  reading  an  address  on  a  letter,  and 

the  dvorniJc  is  probably  point- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the 
room  occupied  by  the  person 
to  whom  the  missive  belongs." 
"  I  have  read  that  letters  in 
Russia  are  examined  by  the 
police  before  they  are  deliver- 
ed," said  one  of  the  boys.  "  Is 
that  really  the  case  ?" 

"  Formerly  it  was,  or  at 
least  they  were  liable  to  ex- 
amination, and  it  probably 
happens  often  enough  at  the 
present  time.  If  a  man  is 
suspected  of  treasonable  prac- 
tices his  correspondence  is  lia- 
ble to  be  seized  ;  unless  there 
is  a  serious  charge  against  him, 
it  is  not  detained  after  exam- 
ination, provided  it  contains 
nothing  objectionable.  The 
Post-office,  like  everything  else 
in  Russia,  is  a  part  of  the  mili- 
tary system,  and  if  the  Government  wishes  to  do  anything  with  the  letters 
of  its  subjects  it  generally  does  it.  The  correspondence  of  foreigners  is 
rarely  meddled  with.  Writers  for  the  foreign  newspapers  sometimes  com- 
plain that  their  letters  are  lost  in  the  mails,  or  show  signs  of  having  been 
opened,  but  I  fancy  that  these  cases  are  rare.  For  one,  I  haven't  the  least 
fear  that  our  letters  will  be  troubled,  as  we  have  no  designs  upon  Russia 
other  than  to  see  it.  If  we  were  plotting  treason,  or  had  communications 
with  Russian  and  Polish  revolutionists  in  France  or  Switzerland,  it  is 
probable  that  the  Government  would  not  be  long  in  finding  it  out." 

"  "What  would  happen  to  us,  supposing  that  to  be  the  case  ?"  Frank 
inquired. 

"Supposing  it  to  be  so  for  the  sake  of  argument,"  the  Doctor  an- 
swered, "our  treatment  would  depend  much  upon  the  circumstances.  If 
we  were  Russians,  we  should  probably  be  arrested  and  imprisoned  ;  but  as 


ec&&f~~*#0srcf/. 


PVOR.NIK    AND    POSTMAN. 


EXPELLED   FROM   RUSSIA. 


91 


we  are  foreigners,  we  should  be  asked  to  leave  the  country.  Unless  the 
matter  is  very  serious,  the  authorities  do  not  like  to  meddle  with  foreign- 
ers in  any  way  that  will  lead  to  a  dispute  with  another  government,  and 
their  quickest  way  out  of  the  difficulty  is  to  expel  the  obnoxious  visitor." 

"  How  would  they  go  to  work  to  expel  us  ?" 

"  An  officer  would  call  at  our  lodgings  and  tell  us  our  passports  were 
ready  for. our  departure.  He  would  probably  say  that  the  train  for  the 
frontier  leaves  at  11  a.m.  to-morrow,  and  he  would  expect  us  to  go  by  that 
train.  If  the  case  was  urgent,  he  would  probably  tell  us  we  must  go  by 
that  train,  and  he  would  be  at  the  hotel  at  ten  o'clock  to  escort  us  to  it. 
He  would  take  us  to  the  train  and  accompany  us  to  the  frontier,  where 
he  would  gracefully  say  good-by,  and  wish  us  a  pleasant  journey  to  our 
homes.  If  matters  were  less  serious,  he  would  allow  us  two  or  three  (lays, 
perhaps  a  week,  to  close  our  affairs;  all  would  depend  upon  his  orders, 
and  whatever  they  were  they  would  be  carried  out. 


LODGINGS    AT    THE    FRONTIER. 


"Before  the  days  of  the  railways  objectionable  parties  were  taken  to 
the  frontier  in  carriages  or  sleighs,  the  Government  paying  the  expense  of 
the  posting ;  and  no  matter  wdiat  the  hour  of  arrival  at  the  boundary,  they 
were  set  down  and  left  to  take  care  of  themselves.  An  Englishman  who 
had  got  himself  into  trouble  with  the  Government  in  the  time  of  the  Em- 


02 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


peror  Nicholas,  tells  how  he  was  dropped  just  over  the  boundary  in  Prus- 
sia in  the  middle  of  a  dark  and  rainy  night,  and  left  standing  in  the  road 
with  his  baggage,  fully  a  mile  from  any  house.  The  officer  who  accom- 
panied him  was  ordered  to  escort  him  over  the  frontier,  and  did  it  exactly. 
Probably  his  passenger  was  a  trifle  obstinate,  or  he  would  not  have  been 
left  in  such  a  plight.  A  little  politeness,  and  possibly  a  few  shillings  in 
money,  Would  have  induced  the  officer  to  bring  him  to  the  boundary  in 
the  daytime,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  habitation. 

"  Expelled  foreigners  have  rarely  any  cause  to  complain  of  the  incivili- 
ty of  their  escorts.  I  know  a  Frenchman  who  was  thus  taken  to  the  fron- 
tier after  a  notice  of  two  days,  and  he  told  me  that  he  could  not  have  re- 
ceived greater  civility  if  he  had  been  the  guest  of  the  Emperor,  and  going 
to  St.  Petersburg  instead  of  from  it.  He  added  that  he  tried  to  outdo  his 
guardians  in  politeness,  and  further  admitted  that  he  richly  deserved  ex- 
pulsion, as  he  had  gone  to  the  Empire  on  a  revolutionary  mission.  <  >n 
the  whole,  he  considered  himself  fortunate  to  have  escaped  so  easily." 

The  conversation  led  to  anecdotes  about  the  police  system  of  Russia, 
and  at  their  termination  our  friends  found  themselves  at  the  door  of  the 
hotel.  Naturally,  they  shifted  to  other  topics  as  soon  as  they  were  in  the 
presence  of  others.  It  was  an  invariable  rule  of  our  friends  not  to  dis- 
cuss in  the  hearing  of  any  one  else  the  politics  of  the  countries  they  were 
visiting. 


ORDERED    TO    LEAVE    IiUSSIA. 


POPULATION   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  03 


CHAPTER  V. 

NUMBER  AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE.-PAN-SLAVIC  UNION— ST. 
ISAAC'S  CHURCH. —ITS  HISTORY  AND  DESCRIPTION. —THE  WINTER  PALACE 
AND  THE  HERMIT  AGE.  —  SIGHTS  IN  THE  PALACE. —  CATHERINE'S  RULES  FOR 
HER  RECEPTIONS.— JOHN  PAUL  JONES  IN  RUSSIA.— THE  CROWN  JEWELS  AND 
THE  ORLOFF  DIAMOND.— ANECDOTES  OF  THE  EMPEROR  NICHOLAS.— RELICS  OF 
PETER  THE  GREAT.— FROM  PALACE  TO  PRISON.— TOMBS  OF  RUSSIA'S  EMPER- 
ORS.—A  MONUMENT  AND  AN  ANECDOTE. 

WHEN  the  subject  of  the  police  was  dropped  by  our  friends,  Frank 
asked  a  question  about  the  Russian  people  and  their  origin.  The 
Doctor  answered  that  the  topic  was  a  broad  one,  as  the  Empire  contained 
more  than  a  hundred  different  nations  and  tribes  of  people,  and  that  they 
spoke  forty  distinct  languages.  Many  of  the  smaller  tribes  were  assimi- 
lating with  the  Russians  and  losing  their  distinctiveness,  even  though  they 
preserved  their  language ;  but  this  was  by  no  means  the  case  throughout 
the  Empire. 

"  Not  in  Poland,  I  think,"  said  Frank,  "  judging  by  what  we  saw  and 
heard,  and  probably  not  in  Finland." 

"  Quite  right,"  added  Doctor  Bronson ;  "  and  the  same  is  the  case  with 
the  German  population  in  the  Baltic  provinces.  Though  they  have  long 
been  an  integral  part  of  the  Empire,  there  are  thousands  of  the  inhab- 
itants who  cannot  speak  Russian,  and  refuse  to  teach  it  to  their  children. 
They  are  less  revolutionary  in  their  ways  than  the  Poles,  but  none  the  less 
desirous  of  preserving  their  national  characteristics. 

"  The  population  of  Russia  is  about  one  hundred  millions,"  he  contin- 
ued, "  and  it  is  spread  over  an  area  of  nearly  if  not  quite  seven  million 
square  miles  of  land.  Russia  occupies  about  one-eighth  of  the  land  sur- 
face of  the  globe,  but  is  very  thinly  inhabited.  European  Russia,  in- 
cluding Poland,  Finland,  and  other  provinces,  covers  two  millions  of  square 
miles,  while  Siberia,  or  European  Asia,  extends  over  at  least  five  millions. 
This  does  not  include  the  disputed  territory  of  the  last  few  years  in  Cen- 
tral Asia.  It  is  pretty  certain  to  come  under  the  rule  of  the  Emperor,  and 
will  add  another  half-million,  if  not  more,  to  his  dominions. 

"The  inhabitants  are  very  unevenly  distributed,  as  they  average  one 


Oi 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


hundred  and  twenty-seven  to  the  square  mile  in  Poland,  and  less  than  two 
to  the  mile  in  Asiatic  Russia.  About  sixty  millions  belong  to  the  Slavic 
race,  which  includes  the  Russians  and  Poles,  and  also  a  few  colonies  of 


FINLAND    PEASANTS    IN    HOLIDAY    COSTUME. 


Servians  and  Bulgarians,  which  amount  in  all  to  less  than  one  hundred 
thousand.  The  identity  of  the  Servians  and  Bulgarians  with  the  Slavic 
race  has  been  the  excuse,  if  not  the  reason,  for  the  repeated  attempts  of 
Russia  to  unite  Servia,  Bulgaria,  and  the  other  Danubian  principalities 


PAN-SLAVIC   UNION. 


95 


with  the  grand  Empire.  The  union  of  the  Slavic  people  under  one  gov- 
ernment has  been  the  dream  of  the  emperors  of  Russia  for  a  long  time, 
and  what  could  be  a  better  union,  they  argue,  than  their  absorption  into 
our  own  nation  ?" 

Fred  asked  who  the  Slavs  were,  and  whence  they  came. 

"  According  to  those  who  have  studied  the  subject,"  Doctor  Bronson 
answered, "they  were  anciently  known  as  Scythians  or  Sarmatians.     Their 


INHABITANTS    OK    SOUTHERN    RUSSIA. 


early  history  is  much  obscured,  but  they  seem  to  have  had  their  centre 
around  the  Carpathian  Mountains,  whence  they  spread  to  the  four  points 
of  the  compass.  On  the  north  they  reached  to  the  Baltic ;  westward,  they 
went  to  the  banks  of  the  Elbe ;  southward,  beyond  the  Danube ;  and 
eastward,  their  progress  was  impeded  by  the  Tartar  hordes  of  Asia,  and 


96 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


they  did  not  penetrate  far  into  Siberia  until  comparatively  recent  times. 
With  their  extension  they  split  up  into  numerous  tribes  and  independent 
organizations;  thus  their  unity  was  lost,  and  they  took  the  form  in  which 
we  find  them  to-day.  Poles  and  Russians  are  both  of  the  same  race,  and 
their  languages  have  a  common  origin  ;  but  nowhere  in  the  world  can  be 
found  two  people  who  hate  each  other  more  heartily.  However  much 
the  Russians  have  favored  a  Pan-Slavist  union,  you  may  be  sure  the  Poles 
look  on  it  with  disfavor. 

"  The  ancient  Slavonic  language  has  given  way  to  the  modern  forms 
in  the  same  way  that  Latin  has  made  way  for  French.  Italian.  Spanish. 


ST.   ISAACS    CHrtiCH    AND    ADMIRALTY    SyCARE. 


and  other  tongues  and  dialects  with  a  Latin  origin.  In  fact  those  lan- 
imao-es  hold  the  same  relation  to  Latin  that  Polish.  Russian.  Servian,  and 
Bulgarian  hold  towards  ancient  Slavonic.  The  Romish  Church  uses  Latin 
in  its  service,  and  the  Russo-Greek  Church  uses  the  old  Slavonic  ;  the 
Poles,  Bohemians,  and  others  have  adopted  the  Roman  alphabet,  but  the 
Russians  use  the  Slavonic  characters  in  a  modified  form.  The  Russian 
alphabet  has  thirty-six  letters,  some  being  Roman,  others  Greek,  and  oth- 
ers Slavonic.     After  you  have  learned  the  alphabet  and  can  spell  out  the 


THE   CHURCH  OF  ST.  ISAAC.  97 

signs  on  the  shops  and  street  corners,  I'll  tell  you  more  about  the  lan- 


o 

ruaa'e. 


It  was  getting  late,  and  the  party  broke  up  a  few  minutes  after  the 
foregoing  conversation.  Before  they  separated,  Doctor  Bronson  suggested 
to  the  youths  that  he  should  expect  them  to  read  up  the  history  of  Rus- 
sia, and  not  forget  the  Romanoff  family.  "  The  Romanoffs,''  said  he,  "  are 
the  reigning  family  of  Russia,  just  as  the  Guelphs  are  of  England  and  the 
Hapsburgs  of  Austria." 

It  was  speedily  arranged  that  Frank  would  devote  special  attention  to 
the  first-named  subject,  while  Fred  would  assume  the  responsibilities  of 
the  latter.  "  And  while  you  are  on  the  subject,"  the  Doctor  added,  turn- 
ing to  Fred,  "  see  if  you  can  find  about  the  origin  of  the  Orloff  family, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  traditions  that  has  been  handed 
down." 

Fred  promised,  and  the  party  separated  for  the  night. 

They  were  all  up  in  good  season  the  next  morning,  and  after  a  substan- 
tial breakfast,  in  which  the  samovar  had  a  prominent  place,  they  set  out 
for  a  round  of  sight-seeing  in  the  modern  capital  of  Russia. 

Returning  to  Admiralty  Scpiare,  they  visited  the  Church  of  St.  Isaac, 
accompanied  by  the  guide  they  had  engaged  at  the  hotel.  The  man  was 
of  Russian  birth,  and  spoke  English  with  considerable  fluency.  Evidently 
he  understood  his  business,  as  he  told  the  history  of  the  sacred  edifice  with 
a  careful  adherence  to  dates. 

"  Peter  the  Great  built  a  wooden  church  on  this  very  spot,"  said  the 
guide, "in  1710,  but  it  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Afterwards  the  great  Cath- 
erine erected  another,  which  was  finished  in  1801  ;  but  it  only  remained 
eighteen  years.  The  present  building  was  begun  in  1S19,  and  its  com- 
pletion took  nearly  forty  years.  It  was  consecrated  in  1S58,  and  is  con- 
sidered the  finest  church  in  the  Empire." 

"  The  last  statement  might  be  disputed  by  some  of  the  citizens  of  Mos- 
cow," said  the  Doctor  to  the  youths, "  but  there  is  no  question  about  the 
church  being  the  finest  in  St.  Petersburg.  Observe  its  admirable  propor- 
tions," he  continued.  "  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  with  its  four 
sides  of  equal  length,  and  the  architect  who  planned  it  certainly  had  a 
correct  eye  for  his  work." 

"Tou  observe,"  said  the  guide,  "that  each  of  the  four  entrances  is  ap- 
proached by  three  flights  of  stone  steps,  leading  up  from  the  level  of  the 
square.  Each  of  these  flights  of  steps  is  cut  from  a  single  block  of  Fin- 
land granite." 

The  youths  made  note  of  this  fact  as  they  wondered  how  the  huge 

7 


98 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


masses  of  stone  were  brought  from  their  quarries ;  and  they  also  noted 
that  the  four  entrances  of  the  church  were  between  pillars  of  granite  sixty 
feet  high  and  seven  feet  in  diameter,  polished  to  the  smoothness  of  a  mir- 
ror. An  immense  dome  forms  the  centre  of  the  edifice.  It  is  of  iron, 
covered  on  the  outside  with  copper,  and  this  copper  is  heavily  plated  with 


PIUKST    OF    THE    CHCRCH    OF    ST.   ISAAC. 


pure  gold.  It  is  the  dome  which  first  caught  the  eyes  of  the  travellers  as 
they  approached  the  city,  and  forms  an  important  landmark  from  every 
direction.  The  cupola  rests  on  thirty  granite  pillars,  which  look  small 
enough  when  seen  from  below,  but  are  really  of  great  size. 

In  the  inside  of  the  church  are  paintings  by  Russian  artists,  and  there 
are  two  columns  of  malachite  fifty  feet  high,  and  of  proportionate  diame- 
ter— the  largest  columns  of  this  costly  mineral  anywhere  in  the  world. 
Immense  quantities  of  malachite,  lapis-lazuli,  and  other  valuable  stones  are 
used  in  the  decoration  of  the  church,  and  our  friends  thought  that  if  there 
was  anything  to  criticise  it  was  the  great  amount  of  ornamentation  and 
gilding  in  the  interior.  "  But  I  have  no  doubt,"  wrote  Fred  in  his  note- 
book, "  that  this  display  has  its  effect  upon  the  worshippers  in  the  church, 


HERMITAGE   AND   WINTER   PALACE. 


99 


and  particularly  among  the  poor  peasants  and  all  others  of  the  humbler 
classes.  In  all  the  countries  we  have  visited,  whether  of  the  Christian, 
Moslem,  Buddhist,  or  other  faith,  we  have  found  the  religious  edifices 
adorned  in  the  most  costly  manner,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  Russia 
should  form  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  Many  of  the  paintings, 
columns,  and  others  decorations  of  this  church  were  the  gift  of  wealthy 
Russians,  while  others  were  paid  for  by  the  contributions  of  the  people, 
or  from  the  funds  in  Government  hands." 

From  the  Church  of  St.  Isaac  our  friends  went  to  the  Hermitage 
and  the  Winter  Palace,  the  latter  being  named  in  contradistinction  to  the 
Summer  Palace,  which  is  at  Tsarskoe-Selo,  a  few  miles  from  the  capital. 
We  will  see  what  the  youths  had  to  say  of  their  visit  to  these  edifices. 
Fred  will  tell  the  story. 

"  To  describe  all  we  saw  there  would  take  a  fair-sized  volume,"  said 
Fred,  "and  we  will  only  tell  what  impressed  us  most.  The  palace  was 
built  in  a  great  hurry,  to  take  the  place  of  the  one  that  was  burned  in 
1837.  It  was  ready  for  occupation 
in  1839  ;  and  when  you  know  that 
it  is  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long- 
by  three  hundred  and  fifty  wide, 
and  rises  to  a  height  of  eighty  feet, 
yon  will  agree  with  us  that  the 
Russians  are  to  be  praised  for  their 
energy.  Our  guide  had  procured 
the  necessary  ticket  for  admittance, 
and  we  passed  in  through  an  enor- 
mous gateway  opposite  the  Column 
of  Alexander.  Two  servants  in 
livery  showed  us  through  the  halls 
and  galleries,  and  for  hours  we  wan- 
dered among  pictures  which  repre- 
sent the  victories  of  Russia  over  its 
enemies,  and  amid  costly  furniture 
and  adornments,  till  our  feet  and 
eyes  were  weary.  The  Throne- 
room  of  Peter  the  Great  is  one  of  the  finest  of  the  apartments,  and  the 
Hall  of  St.  George  is  the  largest.  It  measures  one  hundred  and  forty  feet 
by  sixty,  and  is  the  scene  of  the  grand  balls  and  receptions  which  the  Em- 
peror gives  on  state  occasions.     There  is  a  beautiful  apartment,  known  as 

Its  walls  and  ceiling  are  gilded,  and 


CATHERINE    II.   OF    RUSSIA. 


the  drawing-room  of  the  Empress. 


100  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

the  whole  work  about  it  seems  to  have  been  done  without  regard  to 
expense. 

"  One  of  the  halls  contains  portraits  of  the  rulers  of  Russia  from  Peter 
the  Great  down  to  the  present  time ;  another,  the  portraits  of  the  generals 
who  fought  against  the  French  in  1812 ;  another,  the  portraits  of  all  the 
field-marshals  of  the  armies  by  which  Napoleon  was  conquered ;  and  oth- 
ers, the  battle-scenes  before  mentioned.  I  observed  that  Russia  was  not 
unlike  France,  Germany,  and  other  countries  in  representing  very  promi- 
nently the  battles  where  she  triumphed,  and  ignoring  those  where  she  was 
defeated.  The  guide  told  us  that  at  the  state  balls  in  the  palace  sit-down 
suppers  are  provided  for  all  the  guests,  even  if  there  are  two  or  three 
thousand  of  them.  Sometimes  the  supper-hall  is  converted  into  a  garden 
by  means  of  trees  brought  from  greenhouses.  The  guests  sit  at  table  be- 
neath the  foliage,  and  can  easily  forget  that  they  are  in  the  middle  of  a 
Russian  winter. 

"Doctor  Bronson  says  the  Russians  are  very  fond  of  plants  in  their 
dwellings,  the  wealthy  expending  large  sums  on  greenhouses  and  conserv- 
atories, and  the  poorer  people  indulging  in  flower-pots,  which  they  place 
in  all  available  spots.  The  wealthy  frequently  pay  enormous  prices  for 
rare  exotics.  We  have  seen  a  good  many  flower-stores  along  the  Xevski 
Prospect  and  in  other  streets,  and  are  ready  to  believe  that  the  Russians 
are  great  admirers  of  floral  products.  Their  long,  cold,  and  cheerless  win- 
ters lead  them  to  prize  anything  that  can  remind  them  of  the  summer 
season.  , 

"  At  the  entrance  of  one  of  the  halls  there  is  a  tablet  on  which  are  the 
rules  which  Catherine  II.  established  for  the  informal  parties  she  used  to 
have  at  the  Hermitage.  Catherine  had  literary  aspirations,  and  her  parties 
were  in  imitation  of  the  salons  of  Paris,  which  have  a  wide  celebrity. 
Here  is  a  translation  of  the  rules,  which  I  take  from  Murray's  'Hand- 
book :' 

"  '  1    Leave  your  rank  outside,  as  well  as  your  hat,  and  especially  your  sword. 

"  '2.  Leave  your  right  of  precedence,  }Tour  pride,  and  any  similar  feeling,  outside  the 
door. 

"  '3.  Be  gay,  but  do  not  spoil  anything;  do  not  break  or  gnaw  anything. 

"  '4.  Sit,  stand,  walk  as  you  will,  without  reference  to  anybody. 

"  '  5.  Talk  moderately  and  not  very  loud,  so  as  not  to  make  the  ears  and  heads  of  oth- 
ers ache. 

"  '  6.  Argue  without  anger  and  without  excitement. 

"  '  7.  Neither  sigh  nor  yawn,  nor  make  anybody  dull  or  heavy. 

"  '  8.  In  all  inuocent  games,  whatever  one  proposes,  let  all  join. 

"  '9.  Eat  whatever  is  sweet  and  savory,  but  drink  with  moderation,  so  that  each  may 
find  his  legs  on  leaving  the  room. 


JOHN  PAUL  JONES  AT  THE  RUSSIAN   COURT.      . 


101 


^k$^m^ 


RECEPTION   OP    JOHN    PAUL    JONES    BY    THE    EMPRESS    CATHERINE. 


102  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

"  '  10.  Tell  no  tales  out  of  school;  whatever  goes  in  at  one  ear  must  go  out  at  the  other 
before  leaving  the  room. 

"  'A  transgressor  against  these  rules  shall,  on  the  testimon)'  of  two  witnesses,  for  every 
offence  drink  a  glass  of  cold  water,  not  excepting  the  ladies,  and  further  read  a  page  of 
the  "  Telemachiade  "  aloud. 

"  '  Whoever  breaks  any  three  of  these  rules  during  the  same  evening  shall  commit  six 
lines  of  the  "  Telemachiade  "  to  memory. 

"  '  And  whoever  offends  against  the  tenth  rule  shall  not  again  be  admitted.' 

"  The  '  Telemachiade '  which  is  prescribed  as  a  penance  was  the  work 
of  a  Russian  poet  of  Catherine's  time,  who  does  not  seem  to  have  enjoyed 
the  Imperial  favor.  It  is  said  that  invitations  to  these  parties  were  much 
sought ;  but,  in  spite  of  all  her  efforts,  the  Empress  could  not  induce  her 
guests  to  forget  entirely  that  she  was  their  sovereign.  However,  she  man- 
aged to  make  her  parties  much  less  formal  than  anything  ever  known  be- 
fore at  the  Imperial  Palace,  and  this  was  a  great  deal  to  accomplish  in  such 
a  time  and  in  such  a  country. 

"  I  may  remark,  by-the-way,  that  the  Empress  Catherine  was  the  first 
sovereign  of  Russia  to  invite  an  American  officer  into  the  Imperial  serv- 
ice. That  officer  was  the  celebrated  John  Paul  Jones,  a  Scotchman  by 
birth  but  an  American  citizen  at  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  The 
havoc  he  wrought  upon  the  British  fleets  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
Russian  Government,  and  after  our  war  was  over  he  received  an  intimation 
that  he  could  find  employment  with  the  armies  of  the  Empress,  lie  went 
to  St.  Petersburg,  was  received  by  Catherine  at  a  special  audience,  and 
accorded  the  rank  of  admiral  in  the  Imperial  Navy.  Eussia  was  then  at 
war  with  Turkey.  Admiral  Jones  was  sent  to  command  the  Russian  fleet 
in  the  Black  Sea,  and  operate  against  the  Turkish  fleet,  which  he  did  in 
his  old  way. 

"  The  Russians  were  besieging  a  town  which  was  held  by  the  Turks, 
who  had  a  fleet  of  ships  supporting  their  land-forces.  Jones  dashed  in 
among  the  Turkish  vessels  with  a  boarding-party  in  small  boats,  backed 
by  the  guns  of  his  ships  and  those  of  the  besieging  army.  lie  captured 
two  of  the  Turkish  galleys,  one  of  them  belonging  to  the  commander  of 
the  fleet,  and  made  such  havoc  among  the  enemy  that  the  latter  was 
thoroughly  frightened.  Unfortunately,  Jones  incurred  the  displeasure  of 
Potemkin,  the  Prime-minister,  and  favorite  of  the  Empress,  and  shortly 
after  the  defeat  of  the  fleet  he  was  removed  from  command  and  sent  to 
the  Baltic,  where  there  was  no  enemy  to  operate  against. 

"But  I  am  neglecting  the  palace  in  following  the  career  of  an  Amer- 
ican in  the  service  of  Russia. 


THE   OELOFF  DIAMOND. 


103 


"We  asked  to  see  the  crown  jewels  of  Russia,  and  the  guide  took  us 
to  the  room  where  they  are  kept.  One  of  the  most  famous  diamonds  of 
the  world,  the  Orloff,  is  among  them,  and  its  history  is  mixed  up  with  a 
good  deal  of  fahle.     The  most  authentic  story  about  this  diamond  seems 


RUSSIAN    ATTACK    ON    THE    TURKISH    GALLEY. 


to  he  that  it  formed  the  eye  of  an  idol  in  a  temple  in  India,  whence  it  was 
stolen  by  a  French  soldier,  who  sold  it  for  two  thousand  guineas.  It  then 
came  to  Europe,  and  after  changing  hands  several  times  was  bought  by 
Prince  Orloff,  who  presented  it  to  the  Empress  Catherine.     The  Prince  is 


101  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

said  to  have  given  for  the  diamond  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
rubles  (about  four  hundred  thousand  dollars),  a  life  annuity  of  two  thou- 
sand rubles,  and  a  patent  of  nobility.  It  weighs  more  than  the  famous 
Koh-i-noor  of  England,  but  is  not  as  fine  a  stone.  There  is  a  faint  tinge  of 
yellow  that  depreciates  it  considerably,  and  there  is  also  a  flaw  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  stone,  though  only  perceptible  on  a  careful  examination. 

"  The  Imperial  crown  of  Russia  is  the  most  interesting  crown  we  have 
anywhere  seen.  The  guide  told  us  how  much  it  was  worth  in  money,  but 
I've  forgotten,  the  figures  being  so  large  that  my  head  wouldn't  contain 

them.  There  are  rubies,  diamonds,  and  pearls 
in  great  profusion,  the  diamonds  alone  being 
among  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  There 
are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  a  hundred  large  dia- 
monds in  the  crown,  not  to  mention  the  smaller 
ones  that  till  the  spaces  where  large  ones  could 
not  go.  The  coronet  of  the  Empress  is  an- 
nuo oiiloff  diamond.  other  mass  of  precious  stones  worth  a  long 
journey  to  see.  There  are  other  jewels  here  of 
great  value,  among  them  a  plume  or  aigrette,  which  was  presented  to  Gen- 
eral Snwarroff  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  It  is  covered  with  diamonds 
mounted  on  wires  that  bend  with  each  movement  of  the  wearer.  What 
a  sensation  Suwarroff  must  have  made  when  he  walked  or  rode  with  this 
plume  in  his  hat! 

"From  the  crown  jewels  we  went  to  a  room  whose  history  is  con- 
nected with  a  scene  of  sadness — the  death  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas.  It 
is  the  smallest  and  plainest  room  of  the  palace,  without  any  adornment, 
and  containing  an  iron  bedstead  such  as  we  find  in  a  military  barrack. 
His  cloak,  sword,  and  helmet  are  where  he  left  them,  and  on  the  table  is 
the  report  of  the  quartermaster  of  the  household  troops,  which  had  been 
delivered  to  the  Emperor  on  the  morning  of  March  2,  1S55,  the  date  of 
his  death.  Everything  is  just  as  he  left  it,  and  a  soldier  of  the  Grenadier 
Guards  is  constantly  on  duty  over  the  relics  of  the  Iron  Czar. 

"  If  what  we  read  of  him  is  true,  he  possessed  one  characteristic  of 
Peter  the  Great — that  of  having  his  own  way,  more  than  any  other  Em- 
peror of  modern  times.  He  ascended  the  throne  in  the  midst  of  a  revo- 
lution which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  insurgents.  They  assembled  in 
Admiralty  Square,  and  after  a  brief  resistance  were  fired  upon  by  the 
loval  soldiers  of  the  Empire.  Five  of  the  principal  conspirators  were 
hanged  after  a  long  and  searching  trial,  during  which  Nicholas  was  con- 
cealed behind  a  screen  in  the  court-room,  and  listened  to  all  that  was  said. 


ANECDOTES   OF  NICHOLAS   I. 


105 


Two  hundred  of  the  others  were  sent  to  Siberia  for  life,  and  the  soldiers 
who  had  simply  obeyed  the  orders  of  their  leaders  were  distributed  among 
other  regiments  than  those  in  which  they  had  served. 

"  Through  his  whole  reign  Nicholas  was  an  enemy  to  free  speech  or 
free  writing,  and  his  rule  was  severe  to  the  last  degree.  What  he  ordered 
it  was  necessary  to  perform,  no  matter  what  the  difficulties  were  in  the 
way,  and  a  failure  was,  in  his  eyes,  little  short  of  a  crime.  He  decided 
questions  very  rapidly,  and  often  with  a  lack  of  common-sense.  When  the 
engineers  showed  him  the  plans  of  the  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg  Kail- 
way,  and  asked  where  the  line  should  run,  he  took  a  ruler,  drew  on  the  map 
a  line  from  one  city  to  the  other,  and  said  that  should  be  the  route.  As  a 
consecpience,  the  railway  is  very  nearly  straight  for  the  whole  four  hun- 
dred miles  of  its  course,  and  does  not  pass  any  large  towns  like  the  rail- 
ways in  other  countries. 

"A  more  sensible  anecdote  about  him  relates  an  incident  of  the 
Crimean  war,  when  the  Governor  of  Moscow  ordered  the  pastor  of  the 
English  Church  in  that  city  to 
omit  the  portion  of  the  service 
which  prays  for  the  success  of 
British  arms.  The  pastor  ap- 
pealed the  case  to  the  Emperor, 
who  asked  if .  those  words  were 
in  the  regular  service  of  the 
English  Church.  On  being  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative,  he 
told  the  pastor  to  continue  to 
read  the  service  just  as  it  was, 
and  ordered  the  governor  to 
make  no  further  interference. 

"His  disappointment  at  the 
defeat  of  his  armies  in  the  Cri- 
mean war  was  the  cause  of  his 
death,  quite  as  much  as  the  in- 
fluenza to  which  it  is  attributed. 
On  the  morning  of  his  last  day 

°  J  NICHOLAS    I. 

he  received  news  of  the  repulse 

of  the  Russians  at  Eupatoria,  and  he  is  said  to  have  died  while  in  a  fit  of 
anger  over  this  reverse.  Though  opposed  to  the  freedom  of  the  Press  and 
people,  he  advised  the  liberation  of  the  serfs ;  and  before  he  died  he  urged 
his  son  and  successor  to  begin  immediately  the  work  of  emancipation. 


106  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

"  The  Hermitage  is  close  to  the  palace,  and  is  large  enough  of  itself 
for  the  residence  of  an  emperor  of  medium  importance,  and  certainly  for 
a  good-sized  king.  The  present  building  is  the  successor  of  one  which 
was  built  for  the  Empress  Catherine  as  a  refuge  from  the  cares  of  State, 
and  hence  was  called  the  Hermitage.     It  is  virtually  a  picture-gallery  and 


museum,  as  the  walls  of  the  interior  are  covered  with  pictures,  and  there 
are  collections  of  coins,  gems,  Egyptian  antiquities, "and  other  things  dis- 
tributed through  the  rooms. 

"  The  room  of  greatest  interest  to  lis  in  the  Hermitage  was  that  con- 
taining the  relies  of  Peter  the  Great.  There  were  the  turning-lathes 
whereon  he  worked,  the  knives  and  chisels  with  which  he  carved  wood 
into  various  forms,  together  with  specimens  of  his  wood-carving.  His 
telescopes,  drawing -instruments,  walking-stick,  saddle,  and  other  things 
are  all  here,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  room  is  an  effigy  which  shows  him 
to  have  been  a  man  of  giant  stature,  as  does  also  a  wooden  rod  which  is 
said  to  be  the  one  with  which  he  was  actually  measured.  There  is  a  car- 
riage in  which  he  drove  about  the  city,  the  horse  he  rode  at  the  battle  of 
Pultowa,  and  several  of  his  favorite  dogs,  all  stuffed  and  preserved,  but 
not  in  the  highest  style  of  the  taxidermist.  There  are  casts  taken  after 
Peter's  death,  several  portraits  in  oil  and  one  in  mosaic,  and  a  cast  taker. 


FROM   PALACE   TO   PRISON. 


10'! 


during  life,  and  presented  by  Peter  to  his  friend  Cardinal  Valenti  at 
Rome.  It  was  missing  for  a  long  time,  but  was  finally  discovered  about 
the  middle  of  this  century  by  a  patriotic  Russian,  who  bought  it  and  pre- 
sented it  to  the  gallery. 

"  There  is  a  clock  in  the  same  room  which  is  said  to  have  contained  at 
one  time  the  draft  of  a  constitution  which  Catherine  the  Great  intended 
giving  to  her  people.     Immediately  after  her  death  her  son  and  successor, 
Paul,  rushed  to  the  clock  in  her 
bedroom,  drew  out   the   paper, 
and  destroyed  it.     At  least  this 
is   the   tradition ;    and    whether 
true  or  not,  it  is  worth  knowing, 
as  it  illustrates  the  character  of 
Paul  I." 

Our  friends  imitated  the 
course  of  many  an  Imperial  fa- 
vorite, not  only  in  Russia,  but 
in  other  countries,  by  going 
from  a  palace  to  a  prison,  but 
with  the  difference  in  their  case 
that  the  step  was  voluntary. 

As  they  crossed  the  bridge 
leading  from  the  Winter  Palace 
in  the  direction  of  the  grim  for- 
tress of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul, 
Doctor  Bronson  told  the  youths 
that  Peter  the  Great  shut  up 
his  sister  in  a  convent  and  exiled 
her  minister,  Prince  Galitzin. 
"  Since  his  time,"  the  Doctor 
continued,  "  his  example  has 
been  followed  by  nearly  every 
sovereign  of  Russia,  and  a  great 
many  persons,  men  and  wom- 
en,  have   ended    their   lives   in 

prison  or  in  exile  who  once  stood  high  in  favor  at  the  Imperial  court. 
Catherine  was  accustomed  to  dispose  of  the  friends  of  whom  she  had 
wearied  by  sending  them  to  live  amid  Siberian  snows,  and  the  Emperor 
Paul  used  to  condemn  people  to  prison  or  to  exile  on  the  merest  caprice. 
Even  at  the  present  day  the  old  custom  is  not  unknown." 


CIRCASSIAN    ARMS    AS    TROfHIES    OF    BATTLE. 


108 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  We  were  not  admitted  to  the  cells  of  the  fortress,"  said  Frank,  in  his 
account  of  the  visit  to  the  place,  '"as  it  was  'contrary  to  orders,'  according 
to  the  guide's  explanation.  But  we  were  shown  through  the  cathedral 
where  the  rulers  of  Russia  from  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great  have  been 
buried,  with  the  exception  of  Peter  II.,  who  was  buried  at  Moscow,  where 

he  died.     The  tombs  are  less  elabo- 


rate than  we  expected  to  find  them, 
and  the  walls  of  the  church  are  hung 
profusely  with  flags,  weapons  of  war, 
and  other  trophies  of  battle.  The 
tombs  mark  the  positions  of  the 
graves,  which  are  beneath  the  floor 
of  the  cathedral.  Naturally  the 
tombs  that  most  attracted  our  atten- 
tion were  those  of  the  rulers  who 
have  been  most  famous  in  the  his- 
tory of  Russia. 

"We  looked  first  at  the  burial- 
place  of  the  great  Peter,  then  at  that 
of  Catherine  II.,  and  afterwards  at 
the  tomb  of  Nicholas  I. ;  then  we 
sought  the  tomb  of  Alexander  II., 
who  fell  at  the  hands  of  Nihilist 
assassins,  and  after  a  brief  stay  in 
the  church  returned  to  the  open  air. 
The  building  is  more  interesting  for 
its  associations  than  for  the  artistic 
merit  of  its  interior.  Its  spire  is 
the  tallest  in  the  Empire,  with  the 
exception  of  the  tower  of  the  church 
at  Revel,  on  the  Baltic  coast.  From 
the  level  of  the  ground  to  the  top 
of  the  cross  is  three  hundred  and  eighty-seven  feet,  which  is  twenty-six 
feet  higher  than  St.  Paul's  in  London. 

uThe  spire  alone  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet  high,  and  very 
slender  in  shape.  It  was  erected  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  and  the 
church  itself  dates  almost  from  the  time  of  the  foundation  of  the  city. 
Fifty  or  more  years  ago  the  angel  and  cross  on  the  top  of  the  spire 
threatened  to  fall,  and  a  Russian  peasant  offered  to  repair  them  for  two 
hundred  rubles.     By  means  of  a  rope  and  a  few  nails,  he  climbed  to  the 


STATCE    OF    NICHOLAS    t 


THE   DOUBLE-HEADED   EAGLE.  109 

top  of  the  spire  and  performed  the  work,  and  nobody  will  say  he  did  not 
earn  his  money.  A  single  misstep,  or  the  slightest  accident,  would  have 
dashed  him  to  certain  death. 

"When  we  left  the  church  and  fortress,"  continued  Frank,  "we  felt 
that  we  had  had  enough  for  the  day  of  that  kind  of  sight-seeing,  so  we 
drove  through  some  of  the  principal  streets  and  went  to  the  Gostinna 
Dvor,  where  we  wished  to  see  the  curiosities  of  the  place  and  make  a  few 
purchases. 

"Near  St.  Isaac's  Church  we  passed  the  famous  equestrian  statue  of 
the  Emperor  Nicholas,  in  which  the  sculptor  succeeded  in  balancing  the 
horse  on  his  hind  feet  without  utilizing  the  tail,  as  was  done  in  the  case  of 
the  statue  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  Emperor  is  in  the  uniform  of  the 
Horse  Guards.  The  pedestal  is  formed  of  blocks  of  granite  of  different 
colors,  and  there  are  bronze  reliefs  on  the  four  sides  representing  incidents 
in  the  Emperor's  life  and  career.  On  the  upper  part  of  the  pedestal  at 
each  of  the  corners  are  emblematical  figures,  and  just  beneath  the  forefeet 
of  the  horse  is  a  fine  representation  of  the  Imperial  eagle.  The  whole 
work  is  surrounded  with  an  iron  fence  to  preserve  it  from  injury,  and 
altogether  the  statue  is  one  of  which  the  city  may  well  be  proud." 

While  the  party  were  looking  at  the  Imperial  arms  just  mentioned, 
Fred  asked  why  the  eagle  of  Russia  is  represented  with  two  heads. 

"It  indicates  the  union  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  empires,"  the 
Doctor  answered, "  the  same  as  does  the  double-headed  eagle  of  Austria. 
The  device  was  adopted  about  four  centuries  ago  by  Ivan  III.,  after  his 
marriage  with  Sophia,  a  princess  of  the  Imperial  blood  of  Constantinople. 

" By-the-way,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "there's  a  story  of  an  Imperial 
grand-duke  who  went  one  day  on  a  hunting  excursion,  the  first  of  his  life, 
and  fired  at  a  large  bird  which  rose  before  him.  The  bird  fell,  and  was 
brought  by  a  courtier  to  the  noble  hunter. 

" '  Your  Imperial  Highness  has  killed  an  eagle,'  said  the  courtier,  bow- 
ing low  and  depositing  the  prey  on  the  ground. 

"  The  grand-duke  looked  the  bird  over  carefully,  and  then  turned  away 
with  disdain.     'That's  no  eagle,'  said  he,  'it  has  only  one  head.'" 

What  our  young  friends  saw  in  the  Gostinna  Dvor  will  be  told  in  the 
next  chapter. 


110  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  GOSTINNA  DVOR.— ITS  EXTENT  AND  CHARACTER.—  PECULIARITY  OF  RUSSIAN 
SHOPPING— CURIOUS  CUSTOMS.— OLD-CLOTHES  MARKET.— HAY-MARKET.— PIG- 
EONS IN  RUSSIAN  CITIES.— FROZEN  ANIMALS.— CHURCH  AND  MONASTERY  OF  ST. 
ALEXANDER  NEVSKI.— A  PERSIAN  TRAIN.— A  COFFIN  OF  SOLID  SILVER.— THE 
SUMMER  GARDEN.— SPEAKING  TO  THE  EMPEROR— KRILOFF  AND  HIS  FABLES.— 
VISIT  TO  A  RUSSIAN  THEATRE.— "A  LIFE  FOR  THE  CZAR."— A  RUSSIAN  COMEDY. 

"  T)EFORE  I  describe  the  Gostinna  Dvor  of  St.  Petersburg,"  said  Fred 
-U  in  his  note-book, "  let  me  premise  by  saying  that  every  Russian  city 
or  town  has  an  establishment  of  the  same  kind.  It  is  a  good  deal  more 
than  the  market-place  with  us,  and  seems  to  combine  the  bazaars  of  the 
East  with  the  shops  of  the  West.  In  an  ordinary  town  the  Gostinna 
Dvor  occupies  a  single  large  building  at  or  near  the  centre  of  population ; 
the  larger  the  town  or  city  the  greater  will  be  the  commercial  needs  of 
the  people,  and  consequently  a  city  like  Moscow  or  St.  Petersburg  will 
have  a  Gostinna  Dvor  that  dwarfs  all  ordinary  markets  into  insignificance. 

"  The  one  at  St.  Petersburg  occupies  an  enormous  building,  which 
might  almost  be  called  a  series  of  buildings,  fronting  on  the  Xevski  Pros- 
pect, but  entered  also  from  other  streets.  There  are  said  to  be  ten  thou- 
sand merchants  and  their  employe's  in  the  building,  and  certainly  the  num- 
ber is  little  if  any  exaggerated.  We  walked  among  the  rows  of  shops  till 
our  feet  ached  with  weariness,  and  still  there  were  many  other  rows  of 
shops  to  be  visited.  Sometimes  the  shopmen  were  importunate,  but  usu- 
ally they  did  not  disturb  us  unless  we  stopped  to  look  at  something.  The 
building  is  two  stories  high,  the  lower  floor  being  used  for  retail  purposes 
and  the  upper  for  the  storage  of  goods.  Owing  to  the  danger  of  a  con- 
flagration and  the  great  destruction  that  would  ensue,  we  were  told  that 
no  tire  is  allowed  here  in  winter.  Then  the  merchants  and  their  clerks 
wear  furs  and  thick  clothing  when  at  their  business,  and  shoppers  are  not 
expected  to  lay  aside  their  wraps  while  making  purchases. 

••  ■  What  do  you  buy  in  the  Gostinna  Dvor  V  I  hear  some  one  asking. 

'••Everything  that  one  could  wear  or  use  in  Russia,'  I  should  reply, 
•  together  with  a  great  many  things  whose  use  it  would  be  impossible  to 
imagine.'     Some  one  writing  on  this  subject  says  you  may  come  naked 


THE   G0ST1NNA   DVOK. 


Ill 


into  the  Gostinna  Dvor,  bringing  only  a  pocket-book  stnfEed  with  money, 
and  leave  it  in  an  hour  dressed  in  whatever  garments  yon  choose,  wear  all 
the  jewellery  your  tastes  may  dictate,  and  ride  away  in  a  coach  drawn  by 
four  horses,  with  driver  and  footmen  in  livery,  all  obtained  in  the  building 
we  are  now  visiting,  or  in  one  of  its  annexes.  Nay,  more ;  you  can  en- 
gage a  residence  of  palatial  character  from  accommodating  house  agents 
stationed  here,  and  furnish  it  completely  from  the  stock  on  hand  in  the 
Gostinna  Dvor.  Pictures,  chairs,  sofas,  curtains,  tapestry,  kitchen  utensils, 
library,  anything  and  everything  you  want,  are  all  ready  for  sale,  and  only 
await  purchasers.     Your  wife  and  children,  'sisters,  cousins,  and  aunts,' 


PUI.ITENKSS    IN    TIIK    SIAKKET-PLACK. 


can  here  be  provided  with  wardrobes,  elaborate  or  economical,  as  your 
purse  will  justify,  and  so  with  all  the  servants  of  the  household,  regardless 
of  their  number. 

"  Officers  of  every  grade,  rank,  and  arm  of  the  service  can  be  uni- 
formed here,  and  their  garments  may  be  brand-new,  second-hand,  or  so  old 
that  they  will  subject  the  wearer  to  punishment  on  account  of  his  shabbi- 
ness.     Decorations  are  to  be  bought,  at  least  the  insignia  thereof,  and  the 


112  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

seller  -will  ask  no  questious.  The  purchaser  wears  them  at  his  peril  if  he 
does  not  possess  the  proper  diplomas,  since  the  unauthorized  wearing  of 
decorations  is  as  serious  a  matter  in  Russia  as  in  other  Continental  coun- 
tries. The  Emperor  Nicholas  was  fond  of  visiting  the  Gostinna  Dvor  ac- 
companied by  a  single  orderly.  One  day  he  saw  a  young  officer  wistfully 
eying  a  decoration  in  one  of  the  windows,  and  told  the  orderly  to  ascer- 
tain his  name.  Inquiry  showed  that  the  officer  stood  well  with  his  supe- 
riors, was  faithful  in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  and  the  result  was  he 
received  the  coveted  bauble  directly  from  the  hand  of  the  Emperor. 

"  Perhaps  you  wonder  why  the  Russian  market  is  so  extensive,  and 
what  must  be  the  habits  of  the  people  to  sustain  such  a  commerce.  This 
is  the  way  it  is  explained  : 

"  A  Russian  rarely  buys  anything  till  just  as  he  wants  it,  and  then  he 
cannot  wait  to  have  it  made.  In  England  or  America  a  man  desiring  to 
furnish  a  fine  house  would  be  weeks  or  months  collecting  his  furniture, 
ordering  some  to  be  made,  and  buying  the  rest  from  time  to  time  when 
he  found  what  suited  him.  Under  similar  circumstances,  a  Russian  drives 
to  the  Gostinna  Dvor,  and  makes  his  selections  from  what  he  finds  there. 

"The  Russians  are  said  to  be  more  capricious  than  people  of  other 
nationalities  in  the  matter  of  their  movements  from  place  to  place.  A 
wealthy  Russian  will  fit  up  a  house  at  great  expense,  buying  his  furniture 
in  the  manner  described.  In  a  few  months  he  decides  to  travel  for  his 
health,  or  go  to  the  country,  and  the  whole  equipment  is  sent  to  the  Gos- 
tinna Dvor  and  sold  for  what  it  will  bring.  It  may  be  so  little  used  that 
it  can  be  sold  again  by  the  dealer  as  new,  and  of  course  the  dealer  makes  a 
large  profit  on  the  transaction.  When  the  man  comes  back  to  the  city 
he  furnishes  anew,  and  thus  the  business  of  the  bazaar  is  maintained. 
Fortunes  come  and  go  very  quickly  in  Russia,  and  so  the  work  of  fitting 
and  dismantling  is  continuous. 

"  The  best  goods  are  in  the  Gostinna  Dvor  proper,  while  the  inferior 
ones  are  in  the  annexes.  Some  of  the  shops  have  fixed  prices,  but  in 
most  of  them  there  is  a  system  of  bargaining  which  is  not  agreeable  to 
the  traveller  from  the  Occident.  He  is  never  certain  that  he  has  paid  the 
proper  price,  even  when  he  has  brought  the  merchant  down  to  what  ap- 
pears to  be  his  lowest  figure. 

"  We  bought  a  few  articles  of  Russian  manufacture  to  send  home  to 
our  friends.  Among  them  were  samovars,  inlaid  goods  from  Tula,  em- 
broidered slippers  and  sashes  from  the  Tartar  provinces,  malachite  and 
lapis-lazuli  jewellery,  and  some  Circassian  ornaments  of  silver.  Many  of 
the  articles  sold  in  the  Gostinna  Dvor  are  of  English,  German,  and  French 


THE   FROZEN   MARKET. 


11.: 


manufacture,  which  are  largely  increased  in  price  owing  to  the  duties 
placed  upon  them  by  the  custom-house. 

"  Our  guide  directed  us   from  the   rear   of  the   building  along  the 
Bolshoia  Sadovaia,  or  Great  Garden  Street,  which  is  a  line  of  shops  and 


IMPORTUNING    A    VISITOR. 


bazaars,  to  the  Sennaia  Ploshad,  or  Hay-market.  This  is  a  large  open 
place  or  square,  which  is  less  interesting  now  than  in  winter.  In  summer 
it  is  devoted  to  the  sale  of  hay  and  live-stock,  but  in  winter  it  is  filled 
not  only  with  the  hay,  grain,  and  live-stock  of  summer,  but  with  frozen 
animals,  which  form  the  principal  food  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city. 
Here  is  what  one  traveller  has  written  about  the  frozen  market : 

" '  On  one  side  you  see  a  collection  of  frozen  sheep— stiff,  ghastly  ob- 

8 


1/ 


114 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


jects — some  poised  on  their  hoofs  like  the  wooden  animals  in  a  child's 
"  Noah's  Ark ;"  others  on  their  sides,  with  their  legs  projecting  at  right 
angles  to  their  bodies ;  others,  again,  on  their  backs,  with  their  feet  in  the 
air  like  inverted  tables.  The  oxen  are  only  less  grotesque  from  having 
been  cleft  down  their  backs — an  operation  which  seems  to  take  them  out 


, » >  \  W I'M 

K  >  ¥ 


FROZEN    ANIMALS    IN    THE    MARKET. 


of  the  category  of  oxen  and  place  them  in  that  of  beef.  The  pigs  are 
drawn  up  in  line  against  the  wall,  standing  on  their  hind  legs,  with  their 
forefeet  extended  above  their  heads,  like  trick-dogs  going  through  their 
performances. 

"'The  partridges,  quails,  grouse,  wood-hens,  and  other  birds  are  lying 
together  in  a  frozen  mass,  and  by  their  side  are  ducks  and  geese  with 
outstretched  necks  so  straight  and  stiff  that  you  might  take  one  of  these 
harmless  creatures  by  the  bill  and,  using  it  as  a  bludgeon,  knock  down 
your  enemy  with  its  body.  The  fowls  have  been  plucked,  plunged  into 
water,  and  left  to  freeze  ;  thus  they  are  completely  encased  in  ice,  and  in 
that  condition  will  keep  for  any  length  of  time  as  long  as  the  weather  con- 
tinues cold.' 


PIGEONS  IN   RUSSIA.  115 

"  Frozen  fish  are  piled  in  heaps  like  stove-wood,  and  frozen  cabbages 
are  rolled  around  like  cannon-shot.  A  calf  stands  in  front  of  a  butcher's 
stall  in  the  attitude  of  walking  away,  but  an  examination  shows  that  he  is 
hard  as  a  stone,  and  ma}7  have  been  standing  there  for  weeks.  Milk  is 
sold  in  bricks,  with  a  stick  or  string  frozen  into  one  corner  ;  the  purchaser 
may  carry  it  home  by  means  of  this  improvised  handle,  or  he  may  wrap 
it  in  paper  or  his  handkerchief.  In  fact  everything  that  can  be  frozen 
yields  to  the  frost,  and  the  Russians  find  it  a  most  convenient  form  of 
preservation.  One  of  the  odd  sights  of  the  frozen  market  is  the  itinerant 
vender  of  sucking-pigs,  who  carries  these  articles  of  trade  hung  around 
his  neck  or  waist,  as  though  they  were  ornaments  rather  than  merchandise. 

"  There  is  a  market  for  old  clothes  which  reminded  us  of  Chatham 
Street,  in  New  York.  The  dealers  had  little  stalls  where  the  garments 
were  exposed  for  sale,  and  there  were  a  good  many  peddlers  who  walked 
about  with  the  goods  they  desired  to  dispose  of.  The  old-clothes  market 
of  St.  Petersburg  is  said  to  be  inferior  to  that  of  Moscow  in  the  number 
and  character  of  the  Israelitish  merchants  in  whose  hands  the  business  is' 
concentrated.  The  one  at  Moscow  is  also  called  the  Elbow-market,  on 
account  of  the  continued  elbowing  of  those  who  go  there.  Though  peo- 
ple were  crowded  closely  together  when  we  were  in  the  market,  we  saw  no 
indications  of  anything  but  good-nature.  The  Russians  are  polite  to  each 
other  as  well  as  to  strangers,  and  it  was  amusing  to  see  how  the  rough 
fellows,  when  meeting  face  to  face,  bowed  as  though  they  were  great  per- 
sonages. 

"  And  such  flocks  of  pigeons  as  were  flying  all  about !  They  tell  us 
there  are  many  more  of  them  in  winter  than  in  summer,  as  the  birds  are 
then  driven  to  the  towns  and  cities  to  find  their  food.  The  Hay-market  is 
their  favorite  resort,  since  grain  as  well  as  hay  is  sold  there,  and  the 
pigeons  manage  to  get  off  with  all  that  is  scattered  on  the  ground. 

"The  pigeon  or  dove  in  Russia  is  a  sacred  bird.  The  Russians  say 
that  as  the  dove  brought  the  olive-branch  to  the  Ark,  he  should  not  be 
harmed,  and  it  would  be  a  great  offence  to  kill  one  of  these  birds  in  the 
presence  of  an  orthodox  member  of  the  Church.  But  all  the  grain  that  is 
scattered  from  the  feed  of  the  horses  and  in  the  market-place  is  not  suffi- 
cient for  the  sustenance  of  the  pigeons ;  many  kind-hearted  persons  throw 
quantities  of  grain  to  them  every  morning,  and  not  unfrequently  it  hap- 
pens that  a  pious  Russian  will  spend  a  considerable  part  of  his  income  in 
this  way.  Kriloff,  the  Russian  fable  writer,  is  said  to  have  supported  all 
the  pigeons  of  the  Gostinna  Dvor  for  some  time  at  his  own  expense,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  at  that  of  his  creditors. 


116 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


"  There  are  a  great  many  magpies  and  crows  mingling  with  the  pig- 
eons, and  evidently  considering  themselves  just  as  respectable.  Pigeons, 
crows,  and  magpies  fill  the  belfries  of  many  of  the  churches,  but  not  of  all, 
and  nobody  seems  able  to  say  why  they  make  the  distinction.     Some  of 


MAKKKT    FOR    OLD    CLOTHES. 


the  churches  are  fairly  thronged  with  them,  and  they  keep  up  a  perpetual 
flutter  around  the  roof  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 

"  There  is  a  story  that  the  magpies  were  driven  out  of  Moscow  by  07ie 
of  the  priests  under  the  following  circumstances :  The  high-priest,  or  met- 
ropolitan, was  about  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  new  church,  and  when  he 
reached  the  part  of  the  ceremony  where  the  mortar  was  to  be  placed  on 
the  stone,  the  golden  trowel  which  had  been  brought  for  the  occasion 


ST.  ALEXANDER  NEVSKI.  117 

could  not  be  found.  A  workman  standing  near  was  accused  of  the  theft, 
and  as  nobody  else  could  have  stolen  the  trowel,  the  man  was  sent  to  Si- 
beria. Some  weeks  later  the  precious  tool  was  found  by  the  bell-ringers 
in  the  great  tower  in  the  Kremlin,  where  it  had  been  carried  by  a  thieving 
magpie.  The  man  was  pardoned,  and  compensated  for  his  suffering ;  the 
metropolitan  placed  the  curse  of  the  Church  on  the  magpie,  and  there- 
upon all  the  magpies  in  Moscow  flew  away,  and  have  not  since  been  near 
the  city.  The  story  is  told  by  the  author  of  '  The  Russians  at  Home,'  and 
he  adds  that  the  magpies  really  do  keep  at  a  respectful  distance  from  the 
ancient  capital  of  Russia,  and  thus  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  story." 

From  the  Gostinna  Dvor  our  friends  drove  to  the  church  and  monas- 
tery of  St.  Alexander  Nevski,  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  Nevski  Prospect. 
It  occupies  a  large  area  enclosed  by  high  walls,  and  is  said  to  be  on  the 
exact  spot  where  the  Grand-duke  Alexander  defeated  the  Swedes,  about 
A.n.  1241.  In  due  time  he  was  canonized,  and  became  St.  Alexander.  He 
was  buried  at  Vladimir,  where  his  remains  rested  until  after  the  founding 
of  St.  Petersburg. 

Peter  the  Great  caused  the  bones  of  the  saint  to  be  transported  to  the 
new  city  on  the  banks  of  the  Neva.  St.  Alexander  became  St.  Alexander 
Nevski  ("  of  the  Neva  "),  and  the  church  and  monastery  were  established. 
One  night  the  monks  in  charo-e  of  the  church  took  the  bones  of  the  saint 
and  started  for  Vladimir,  declaring  they  had  been  told  in  a  vision  that  the 
saint  was  not  resting  peacefully  in  the  marshy  soil  of  the  new  capital. 
Peter  was  not  a  man  to  be  thwarted  in  his  designs.  He  sent  word  to 
the  monks  that  unless  they  returned  immediately,  bringing  the  bones  with 
them,  they  would  lose  their  heads.  Knowing  the  man  they  had  to  deal 
with,  they  straightway  had  a  new  vision,  which  accorded  with  the  wishes 
of  the  imperious  Czar.  They  took  the  road  back  to  St.  Petersburg  with- 
out delay,  and  sought  and  obtained  the  pardon  of  their  august  master. 

Hear  what  Fred  has  to  say  about  the  church  and  its  surroundings : 

"  The  original  church  was  of  wood,"  writes  Fred,  "  and  was  built  about 
1712 ;  it  was  torn  down  a  few  years  later,  and  replaced  with  a  church  of 
stone.  The  sovereigns  of  Russia  each  added  something  to  the  building 
and  its  surroundings,  and  the  present  cathedral  was  built  by  Catherine  the 
Great.  The  work  was  done  at  great  expense.  Marble  was  brought  from 
Italy  for  the  interior  decorations,  and  the  malachite,  lapis-lazuli,  and  other 
costly  minerals  were  brought  from  Siberia  and  Persia.  Some  of  the 
paintings  are  by  Russian  artists,  and  the  rest  by  celebrated  masters  of 
Italy  and  other  countries. 

"  An  object  of  great  interest  is  the  shrine  of  St.  Alexander  Nevski. 


US 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


The  coffin  is  of  solid  silver, 
and,  with  the  surrounding  or- 
naments of  the  same  pure  met- 
al, is  estimated  to  weigh  more 
than  a  ton  and  a  half.  The 
crown  of  the  saint  is  preserved 
here,  and  also  the  bed  on  which 
Peter  the  Great  died,  and  there 
are  many  interesting  objects 
associated  with  the  memory  of  nearly  all  the  rulers  of  Russia. 

"There  is  a  library  of  ten  or  twelve  thousand  volumes,  together  with 
a  large  number  of  manuscripts  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Empire.  In 
the  monastery  are  the  cells  of  some  fifty  or  sixty  monks  who  reside  hero 
and  have  charge  of  a  religious  school  which  is  open  to  students  preparing 


riGEONS    IN    A    RUSSIAN    CITY. 


A  PERSIAN  TRAIN  IN  ST.  PETERSBURG. 


119 


to  enter  the  service  of  the  Church.  The  chapel  contains  the  tomhs  of 
Suwaroff  and  other  generals,  and  also  of  many  members  of  the  Imperial 
family.  There  are  tombs  of  several  noble  families  of  Russia ;  that  of  the 
Narishkins  bears  the  inscription, 

"  '  FROM  THEIR  RACE  CAME  PETER  THE  GREAT.' 

"An  occurrence  of  comparatively  recent  times  is  associated  with  this 
church.  Alexander  Griboyedoff,  born  at  Moscow  about  1795,  was  a  cele- 
brated poet  and  dramatist,  whose  merits  were  acknowledged  by  his  ap- 
pointment as  Minister  to  Persia  in  182S.  In  February  of  the  following 
year  he  and  all  the  Russians  who  accompanied  him  were  murdered  in 
Teheran,  in  consecpience  of  a  riotous  outbreak  of  the  populace.  The  Rus- 
sian Government  demanded  satisfaction,  which  was  given  in  the  sha})e  of 
a  long  train  of  beasts  of  burden  loaded  witli  presents,  and  accompanied  by 
a  prince  of  the  Shah's  household.     There  were  also  many  fine  horses  for 


PEKSIAN    HOUSES    PRESENTED    BY    THE    SHAH. 


saddle  purposes,  and  a  collection  of  wild  animals  peculiar  to  Asia.  The 
train  was  months  on  its  way,  and  reached  St.  Petersburg  in  the  winter.  A 
procession  was  made  to  this  church,  and  certainly  it  was  the  most  remark- 
able that  this  northern  city  had  ever  seen. 

"Pearls,  embroideries  in  gold  and  silver,  shawls,  and  other  costly  fab- 
rics, were  carried  on  silver  dishes  in  the  hands  of  gorgeously  dressed  Per- 
sians ;  elephants  bearing  towers  filled  with  Persian  warriors,  or  laden  with 
the  gifts  of  the  Persian  court,  were  protected  from  the  cold  by  boots  and 


120 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


wrappings  of  leather ;  and  the  cages  of  the  lions,  tigers,  and  leopards  were 
shielded  by  double  coverings  of  the  skins  of  Arctic  bears.  The  Persian 
prince  rode  in  an  Imperial  carriage  drawn  by  six  horses,  and  was  escorted 
by  a  regiment  of  Russian  grenadiers.     A  portion  of  the  presents  was 

bestowed  upon  this  church,  and 
the  remainder  went  to  the  fam- 
ilies of  Griboyedoff  and  his 
companions. 

"  The  Emperor  comes  in 
person  to  attend  the  service  of 
mass  in  this  church  at  least 
once  a  year.  The  choir  is  one 
of  the  best  in  the  city,  and  the 
church  is  largely  attended  by 
the  fashionable  inhabitants  of 
the  capital.  A  service  was  go- 
ing on  as  we  entered  the  build- 
|  ing,  and  we  remained  near  the 
door  until  it  ended.  It  was 
an  impressive  ceremonial,  made 
doubly  so  by  the  historic  inter- 
est of  the  surroundings." 

A  drive  to  the  Summer 
Gardens  followed  the  visit  to 
the  Church  of  Saint  Alexander 
Nevski.  Several  theatres  and 
other  public  buildings  were 
passed  on  the  way,  but  they  concluded  not  to  stop  to  examine  them. 
"  One  building  is  very  much  like  another  in  St.  Petersburg,''  said  the  Doc- 
tor ;  "and  unless  there  is  some  special  interest  connected  with  it,  or  a 
peculiar  feature  of  architecture,  it  is  not  worth  while  mixing  it  up  with 
your  recollections  of  the  Winter  Palace  and  the  Hermitage." 

It  was  a  pleasant  afternoon,  and  the  Summer  Gardens  were  filled  with 
people  enjoying  the  open  air.  There  were  nurse-maids  with  children, 
peasants  alone  or  in  couples,  or  groups,  well-to-do  persons  of  the  middle 
classes,  officers  and  soldiers — in  fact  a  fair  representation  of  the  whole  pop- 
ulation. The  Emperor  sometimes  comes  here  for  a  walk,  but  of  late  years 
his  visits  have  been  less  frequent  than  formerly,  on  account  of  the  fear  of 
assassination.  It  is  forbidden  to  speak  to  the  Emperor  while  he  is  on  the 
promenade,  and  any  one  violating  the  rule  will  be  arrested  immediately. 


KUSSIAN    PEASANT    GIKL. 


EMPEROR  NICHOLAS  AND   THE  ACTOR. 


121 


It  is  said  that  one  day  while  the  Emperor  was  walking  in  the  Summer 
Gardens  he  met  and  recognized  a  French  actor  with  whose  performance 
he  was  greatly  pleased.  He  spoke  pleasantly  to  the  actor,  and  the  latter 
replied,  expressing  his  satisfaction  at  this  mark  of  the  Imperial  favor. 
The  Emperor  then  went  on  his  way.  The  police  immediately  pounced 
upon  the  performer,  and  carried  him  away  to  prison  for  violating  the  rule ! 

"But  the  Emperor  spoke  to  me  first,"  the  man  protested  over  and 
over  again  to  no  purpose. 

"  You  spoke  to  the  Emperor,  which  is  contrary  to  the  law,"  was  all 
the  explanation  he  could  obtain. 

Nicholas  went  that  night  to  the  theatre  to  hear  his  favorite,  but  the 
latter  did  not  appear.  No  one  could  tell  where  he  was,  and  his  Majesty 
returned  disappointed  to  the  palace. 

In  the  morning  the  unfortunate  actor  was  released,  and  the  story  some- 
how readied  the  Imperial  ears.  Nicholas  sent  for  the  victim  of  the  arrest, 
apologized  for  the  action  of 
the  police,  and  asked  what 
reparation  he  could  make 
for    the    actor's    night    in 


night 
prison. 

"  Never  speak  to  me 
again  in  the  public  garden," 
was  the  reply.  The  Em- 
peror laughed,  and  made 
the  required  promise.  Next 
day  he  sent  the  equivalent 
of  a  month's  salary  to  the 
actor,  together  with  a  dia- 
mond ring  of  no  small  value. 

In  one  corner  of  the  gar- 
den is  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  Kriloff,  the  Rus- 
sian fabulist.  The  youths 
asked  the  Doctor  to  tell 
them  about  Kriloff,  which 
he  did  as  follows : 

"Kriloff  was  the  most 
famous  writer  in  Russia  in 

the  first  half  of  the  present  century,"  said  the  Doctor, "  and  he  is  proba- 
bly better  known  to-day  among  all  classes  of  the  population  than  any 


RUSSIAN    NCRSE-.MA1D    AND    CHILDREN. 


122 


THE  COY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


other  man  of  letters.  Forty  thousand  copies  of  his  works  were  sold  be- 
tween 1830  and  1S10,  in  editions  of  various  kinds,  and  went  to  all  parts  of 
the  Empire.  There  was  hardly  a  child  of  the  educated  classes  who  was 
not  familiar  with  his  stories,  and  they  were  circulated  '  by  word  of  mouth ' 
among  the  peasantry,  to  whom  reading  was  an  unknown  accomplishment ; 
and  before  they  were  issued  in  books,  his  fables  were  published  in  news- 
papers and  magazines,  so  that  the  aggregate  circulation  was  very  large.'' 

Fred  asked  what  was  the  nature  of  the  stories  told  by  the  famous  man 
whose  statue  they  were  regarding. 

"  They  were  fables,"  the  Doctor  answered,  "  after  the  manner  of 
iEsop's  and  La  Fontaine's.     He  had  written  editorials  and  literary  essays 


*-&>2  FruW^jwi 


_W«tf- 


SOME   OF   KR1LOFE  s    FRIENDS. 


for  various  publications,  but  never  made  a  'hit'  until  about  his  fortieth 
year,  when  he  took  some  fables  from  La  Fontaine  and  adapted  them  to  the 
conditions  of  life  in  Russia.  He  showed  them  to  a  friend,  who  printed 
them  in  The  Moscow  Spectator,  where  they  attracted  much  attention. 
Kriloff  was  encouraged  to  continue  this  style  of  writing.  For  the  rest  of 
his  life  his  literary  labors  were  almost  wholly  devoted  to  fables.  He  died 
in  November,  181-1,  at  the  good  old  age  of  seventy-six. 

"At  his  funeral  the  streets  were  crowded,  and  the  Church  of  St. 
Isaac  could  not  hold  all  who  came  to  take  part  in  the  services.  Soon  after 
his  death  a  popular  subscription  was  started,  and  the  children  of  all  classes 
contributed  to  it.     The  money  was  expended  for  the  erection  of  the  statue 


A  CONVENTION. 


123 


I//,, 


\  pi; 


•■<.-: 


<m 


KRILOFF  S    CHARACTERS    IS    CONVENTION. 


121  THE   BOY  TEAVELLEKS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

before  us.  You  observe  that  the  space  around  it  is  the  favorite  play- 
ground of  the  children,  and  no  more  appropriate  spot  could  have  been 
chosen." 

The  statue  represents  Kriloff  in  a  dressing-gown,  seated  in  an  arm- 
chair, with  his  head  slightly  inclined  forward,  and  looking  pleasantly  down- 
ward. The  pedestal  of  the  monument  is  adorned  with  reliefs  of  the  ani- 
mals that  figured  in  his  fables — oxen,  horses,  cows,  sheep,  donkeys,  foxes, 
wolves,  hens,  lions,  etc.,  and  thereby  hangs  a  story : 

The  Emperor  Nicholas  was  fond  of  choosing  as  his  ministers  and  ad- 
visers men  who  were  not  likely  to  oppose  any  of  his  measures.  The  in- 
competency of  his  ministry  was  notorious  both  in  Russia  and  other  coun- 
tries. When  his  successor,  Alexander  II.,  ascended  the  throne,  he  was 
asked  why  he  did  not  retain  the  ministry  of  Nicholas  instead  of  choosing 
a  new  one.  He  replied,  "My  father  was  a  man  of  such  transcendent  abil- 
ity that  he  could  afford  to  surround  himself  with  incompetent  men  ;  I  feel 
my  weakness,  and  must  have  the  best  talent  in  the  Empire  to  assist  me." 

"When  the  equestrian  monument  to  the  memory  of  Nicholas  was  under 
consideration,  it  was  jiroposed  to  adorn  its  pedestal  with  the  portraits 
of  his  ministers,  but  the  proposal  was  vetoed,  when  some  one  suggested 
that  if  the  monument  were  so  adorned  it  might  be  mistaken  for  that  of 
Kriloff. 

"Kriloffs  fables,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "were  aimed  at  official  and 
social  abuses  and  absurdities.  Many  that  he  wrote  were  never  produced, 
as  all  had  to  receive  the  approval  of  the  censor  before  they  could  be 
issued.  I  told  you  that  in  ten  years  forty  thousand  copies  of  his  works 
were  sold,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  present  sale  amounts  to  several  thou- 
sand annually.  Kriloff  is  read  not  only  by  Russian  children  hut  by  peo- 
ple of  all  ages,  and  the  fables  have  been  translated  into  all  the  languages 
of  Europe." 

On  the  way  back  to  the  hotel  our  friends  stopped  at  a  book-store  and 
bought  a  copy,  in  English,  of  the  book  in  which  their  interest  had  been 
aroused.  Some  of  the  fables  were  incomprehensible  to  them,  on  account 
of  their  ignorance  of  Russian  manners  and  customs,  and  of  the  system  of 
government ;  but  this  was  not  the  case  with  the  greater  number.  They 
had  a  heart}7  laugh  over  several  of  the  anecdotes,  and  voted  the  book  to 
be  well  worth  preserving. 

Here  are  some  of  the  fables  with  which  they  were  amused.  We  will 
condense  them,  as  they  are  sometimes  rather  long  drawn  out  in  the 
original. 

A  donkey  meets  a  nightingale  in  the  woods,  and  asks  her  to  favor  him 


SOME   OF  KRILOFF'S   FABLES.  125 

with  a  song.  She  complies,  and  sings  her  sweetest.  The  other  birds  come 
and  listen,  but  the  donkey  shakes  his  head  and  says,  "  Tour  voice  is  very 
fair,  but  you  should  take  lessons  of  the  village  cock."  The  moral  may  be 
thus  rendered  in  English  : 

' '  What  most  the  poet  fears, 
Is  the  critic  with  long  ears." 

Another  fable  tells  how  the  swan,  the  crab,  and  the  pike  agreed  to 
draw  a  load ;  but  when  the  time  came  for  the  effort  the  pike  dived  into 
the  water,  the  swan  flew  into  the  air,  while  the  crab  went  backward  after 
the  manner  of  his  kind.     At  the  end  Kriloff  says, 

"Which  was  right  and  which  was  wrong, 
I  really  can't  pretend  to  say; 
But  this  I  know,  they  labored  long, 
And  the  load  stands  still  to  the  present  day." 

The  fable  of  "  The  Two  Boys  "  tells  how  two  youths  are  trying  to  get 
at  some  nuts  in  a  tree,  but  the  limbs  are  beyond  their  reach.  One  sug- 
gests that  he  will  climb  up  on  the  back  of  the  other,  and  then  can  gather 
nuts  for  both ;  but  as  soon  as  he  is  seated  among  the  limbs  he  falls  to 
eating  the  nuts  at  his  leisure,  and  throws  only  the  shells  to  his  companion. 
The  moral  is  obvious,  and  Kriloff  adds  that  he  has  known  men  thus  raised 
to  profitable  positions  who  had  not  the  grace  to  throw  even  the  shells 
to  those  who  had  assisted  them. 

In  the  fable  of  "  The  Pike,"  that  voracious  fish  has  been  killing  his 
inoffensive  neighbors  in  the  pond.  He  is  taken  in  a  tub  of  water  and 
carried  before  the  court  for  judgment.  The  court  is  composed  of  two 
donkeys  and  two  goats,  who  grazed  on  the  banks  of  the  pond ;  and  in 
order  to  make  their  decision  an  intelligent  one,  a  skilful  lawyer,  the  fox, 
is  added  to  the  court.  People  said  that  the  fox  was  always  plentifully 
supplied  with  fish,  the  pike  giving  him  all  he  wanted. 

The  proof  was  overwhelming,  and  the  judges  decided  that  the  pike 
must  be  hanged.  "Oh,  hanging's  too  good  for  him,"  said  the  fox,  "give 
him  something  more  severe ;  let  the  wretch  be  drowned." 

"  Certainly,"  exclaimed  the  judges ;  and  thereupon  the  pike  was 
thrown  into  the  pond  again. 

In  "  The  Fox  and  the  Marmot,"  the  fox  complains  to  the  marmot  that 
he  has  been  driven  out  of  a  poultry -yard  which  he  had  undertaken  to 
protect.  "  It  was  a  wretched  place,"  says  the  fox ;  "  I  was  awake  all 
night ;  and  even  in  the  daytime  I  had  hardly  time  to  eat  a  mouthful. 


126 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE 


My  health  was  suffering  from  my  constant  occupation,  and,  after  all  my 
trouble  and  fidelity,  I  am  accused  of  stealing.  What  an  infamous  out- 
rage !  You  know  what  I  had  to  do  there,  and  I  ask  if  you  could  suspect 
me  of  the  slightest  act  of  dishonesty." 

"  Of  course  not,"  the  marmot  answers ;  "  but  I'm  sorry  to  say  that 

I've  frequently  seen  feathers  stick- 
ing in  your  mouth." 

"  Many  an  official,"  says  Kriloff, 
"  complains  that  his  place  is  a  hard 
one,  and  he  is  barely  able  to  live 
upon  his  pay.  Nevertheless  in 
time  he  buys  an  estate  and  builds 
a  house.  You  might  have  diffi- 
culty in  proving  that  he  accepted 
bribes  or  robbed  the  Government, 
but  every  one  must  admit  that  the 
feathers  are  quite  visible  around 
the  gentleman's  mouth." 

Frank  read  this  fable  aloud, 
and  then  asked  the  Doctor  if  the 
moral  would  be  understood  by  any 
office-holders  in  the  United  States. 
Doctor  Bronson  smiled  as  he  an- 
swered that  the  fable  was  designed 
for  Russia  alone,  but  its  circulation 
in  New  York  and  Washington 
could  do  no  harm. 

In  the  evening  our  friends  went 
to  one  of  the  theatres  to  hear  an 
opera  that  is  a  great  favorite  with 
the  Russians.  It  is  by  Glinka,  a 
Russian  composer,  and  is  entitled 
"Jisn  sa  Tsari/a"  ("A  Life  for 
the  Czar").  From  "  The  Russians 
at  Home"  Fred  learned  that  the 
opera  was  first  produced  in  Mos- 
cow in  1S13.  The  subject  is  the  devotion  of  a  Russian  peasant  to  the 
Czar  Michael,  the  first  ruler  of  the  Romanoff  family.  A  band  of  Polish 
invaders  are  seeking  the  Czar  with  the  intention  of  killing  him ;  they 
meet  a  peasant,  whom  they  question  as  to  the  Czar's  place  of  conceal- 


THE    FOX    AS    A    LA1V-GIVER. 


"A  LIFE    FOR  THE   CZAR.' 


127 


ment.  Suspecting  their  design,  lie  offers  to  lead  them  to  the  spot ;  they 
follow,  and  he  leads  them  to  the  centre  of  a  forest  from  which  they 
cannot  find  a  way  of  escape.  After  getting  them  there,  he  announces 
that  he  has  saved  the  life  of  the  Czar  at  the  sacrifice  of  his  own.  The  in- 
vaders kill  him  on  the  spot,  but  the  life  of  the  Czar  is  saved.     The  story 


ONE    OF    KRILOFF  S    CHARACTERS. 


is  a  true  one,  and  to  this  day  the  people  of  the  village  where  the  loyal 
peasant,  Ivan  Soussanin,  lived,  are  exempt  from  taxes,  and  a  monument  has 
been  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  man.     The  opera  which  chronicles  his 


128 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


devotion  is  given  in  three  acts,  and  its  melodies  are  all  strictly  national. 
Our  friends  were  delighted  with  the  performance,  and  both  Frank  and 
Fred  declared  that  for  days  afterwards  several  of  the  airs  in  uJrizn  set 
Tsarya"  were  literally  "running  through  their  heads.1' 

Another  evening  they  went  to  one  of  the  cheaper  theatres,  where  Rus- 
sian comedies  and  farces  were  given.     Of  course  they  could  not  under- 


CLOSING    SCENE    IN    A    RUSSIAN    PLAY. 


stand  the  dialogue,  but  were  quite  interested  in  the  action  of  the  piece, 
which  was  decidedly  vigorous.  Fred  said  he  was  reminded  of  certain  local 
dramas  in  New  York,  where  the  actors  receive  a  great  deal  of  pounding 
and  rough  handling,  and  Frank  thought  a  good  actor  in  Russia  ought  to 
have  the  flexibility  and  agility  of  a  circus  performer. 


A  RUSSIAN   COMEDY. 


129 


As  a  type  of  the  plays  that  amuse  the  lower  order  of  Russians,  the 
following  is  a  fair  representation  : 

A  mujik  makes  love  to  his  master's  maid-servant,  much  against  the  old 
gentleman's  will.  One  day  the  master  enters  the  kitchen  and  finds  the 
mujik  there.  The  whole  family  is  called,  the  bull-dog  is  let  loose  upon 
the  lover  and  seizes  him  by  the  coat,  while  all  the  members  of  the  house- 
hold proceed  to  pound  him 
with  saucepans,  broomsticks, 
tongs,  and  other  utensils  that 
can  be  used  for  hostile  pur- 
poses. 

Round  and  round  goes 
the  frightened  mujik.  The 
dog  clings  to  the  mujik's 
coat,  the  master  seizes  the 
dog  by  the  tail,  the  mistress 
clutches  the  master  by  the 
coat,  and  so  the  whole  trio 
is  dragged  by  the  victim. 
The  rest  of  the  party  con- 
tinue their  pounding,  which 
they  alternate  by  throwing 
missiles  in  the  shape  of 
plates,  potatoes,  and  any- 
thing else  the  kitchen  af- 
fords. 

The  audience  is  wild 
with  delight,  especially  as 
the     blows     fall    quite     as 

often  on  the  other  characters  as  on  the  mujik.  Finally  the  maid-servant 
comes  to  her  lover's  relief  by  throwing  a  bunch  of  fire-crackers  among  his 
enemies  and  blowing  them  up ;  thereupon  the  lover  dashes  through  the 
door,  carrying  with  him  the  adhering  bull-dog,  and  the  curtain  falls  amid 
rounds  of  applause. 

9 


KRILOFFS   STATUE    IN  THE    SUMMER  GARDES,  ST.  PETERSBURG. 


130  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

NEWSPAPERS  IN  RUSSIA.— THEIR  NUMBER,  CHARACTER,  AND  INFLUENCE— DIFFI- 
CULTIES OF  EDITORIAL  LIFE.— THE  CENSORSHIP.— AN  EXCURSION  TO  PETER- 
HOF,  ORANIENBAUM,  AND  CRONSTADT.  —  SIGHTS  IN  THE  SUMMER  PALACE.— 
CRONSTADT  AND  THE  NAVAL  STATION.— THE  RUSSIAN  NAVY.— THE  RUSSIAN 
ARMY:  ITS  COMPOSITION  AND  NUMBERS.— THE  COSSACKS.— ANECDOTES  OF  RUS- 
SIAN MILITARY  LIFE. 

THE  conversation  about  Kriloff  and  the  visit  to  the  opera  naturally 
turned  the  thoughts  of  the  youths  in  the  direction  of  Russian  litera- 
ture, journalism,  and  dramatic  productions.  Frank  was  curious  to  know 
about  the  newspapers  of  the  country,  while  Fred's  first  inquiry  referred 
to  the  works  of  its  poets,  historians,  and  dramatists. 

"  AVe  will  begin  with  the  newspapers,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "  and 
first  I  will  speak  of  those  published  in  St.  Petersburg.  They  are  all 
printed  in  Russian,  with  the  exception  of  a  little  sheet  in  German,  for  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  German  residents,  and  Le  Journal  de  St.  Petersboury, 
the  organ  of  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs,  and  chiefly  filled  with  official 
notices  interesting  to  foreigners.  It  is  printed  in  French,  as  most  of  the 
foreigners  visiting  Russia  understand  that  language.  It  contains  very  lit- 
tle local  news,  and  not  much  from  the  outside  world.  In  fact  journalism, 
as  we  understand  it  in  America,  is  practically  unknown  in  Russia.  The 
best  of  the  Russian  dailies  could  not  stand  a  comparison  with  the  leading 
journals  of  a  dozen  American  cities,  and  a  single  copy  of  the  Herald, 
Tribune,  Times,  or  World,  of  New  York,  contains  more 'news,'  as  we  call 
it,  than  all  the  papers  of  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg  together." 

"  I  suppose  the  censorship  is  largely  responsible  for  this  state  of  af- 
fairs," Frank  remarked. 

"You  are  quite  right,"  the  Doctor  replied  ;  "if  the  censorship  did  not 
exist  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  papers  would  be  much  more  enterprising 
than  they  are.  They  must  not  offend  the  Government,  or  they  are  liable 
to  suppression.  Editorials  are  generally  submitted  to  the  censor  before 
going  into  type,  and  if  approved  they  may  be  printed.  If  printed  with- 
out approval,  the  publishers  run  the  risk  of  censure.  For  a  first  offence 
they  are  '  cautioned ;'  for  a  second  they  are  cautioned  and  fined ;  and  for 


NEWSPAPERS   IN   RUSSIA. 


131 


a  third  offence  the  publication  is  suspended  for  a  month,  three  months,  or 
perhaps  entirely.  Consequently  the  papers  cannot  discuss  public  matters 
with  any  freedom,  and  they  are  entirely  prohibited  from  publishing  per- 
sonal scandals,  which  form  such  an  important  part  of  the  'news'  of  several 
American  papers  I  could  name.  In  addition  to  cautions  and  fines,  the  edi- 
tors are  liable  to  imprisonment ;  and,  taking  all  things  into  consideration, 
the  way  of  the  journalist  is  hard  in  Russia." 

Fred  asked  the  Doctor  what  were  the  principal  papers  of  the  capital. 

"  Tliey  change  so  often,"  was  the  reply,  "  that  an  answer  made  this 
year  will  hardly  answer  for  next.  Each  member  of  the  ministry  has  his 
organ ;  that  of  the  foreign  ministry,  as  before  stated,  is  Le  Journal  de  St. 


" i 


PRESS-ROOM    OF    A    DAILY    NEWSPAPER. 


Petershourg  •  while  that  of  the  War  Department  is  the  HussM  Invalid, 
known  to  the  outer  world  as  the  Invalide  Russe.  The  organ  of  the  Naval 
Bureau  is  published  at  Cronstadt,  the  great  naval  port  of  the  Empire,  and 
not  at  the  capital ;  but  as  Cronstadt  is  only  a  few  miles  away,  the  locality 
is  of  little  consequence.  The  Golos  is  generally  understood  to  be  the  or- 
gan of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior ;  and  as  this  department  has  the  super- 
vision of  the  press,  this  paper  is  said  to  have  more  freedom  than  its  rivals. 
But  even  the  Golos  does  not  escape  the  hand  of  the  censor,  and  its  free- 
dom of  speech  has  several  times  brought  it  into  trouble. 

".What  would  be  called  a  small  circulation  in  America  is  a  large  one 
in  Russia.  There  is  not  a  daily  paper  in  the  Empire  that  averages  a  cir- 
culation of  twenty-five  thousand  copies,  and  the  leading  papers  of  the  two 
great  cities  have  to  content  themselves  with  ten  or  fifteen  thousand.  I 
have  been  told  that  the  daily  papers  of  St.  Petersburg  do  not  circulate 
altogether  more  than   eighty  thousand  copies   daily  outside  the   capital, 


132 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN    THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


and  about  fifty  thousand  in  it.  Remember,  the  mass  of  the  population 
does  not  know  how  to  read  and  write  as  in  America,  and  consequently 
the  circulation  of  the  newspapers  is  confined  to  a  small  portion  of  the 
community. 

"  A  paper  of  great  influence,  probably  the  greatest  in  the  Empire,  is 
the  Moscow  Gazette.  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  organ  of  the  Emperor,  with 
whom  its  editor,  Mr.  Katkoff,  is  on  terms  of  intimacy.  Important  edicts 
of  the  Government  are  frequently  foreshadowed  in  the  Gazette,  and  the 
national  and  international  pulses  are  often  felt  through  its  columns.  But, 
with  all  its  influence,  the  Gazette  does  not  circulate  more  than  twenty 


IflipflPJIII I ■PfFl! 


INTERVIEWING    AN    EDITOR. 


thousand  copies — at  least  according  to  the  figures  at  my  command.  The 
Moscow  Gazette  is  more  frequently  quoted  by  foreign  writers  than  any 
other  journal  in  Russia ;  and  if  it  were  published  in  French  rather  than 
in  Russian,  we  should  probably  hear  of  it  even  more  frequently  than  we 
do." 

"It's  a  pity  they  don't  give  us  a  French  edition  of  it,"  said  Frank. 
"  I  would  like  very  much  to  read  the  paper  and  know  what  it  has  to  say, 


BISMARCK  AND   GORTCHAKOFF. 


133 


but  of  course  I  can't  as  long  as  it  is  in  Russian.  French  is  the  diplomatic 
language,  and  I  wonder  they  don't  make  an  edition  for  foreign  circu- 
lation." 

"  Did  you  ever  hear,"  remarked  the  Doctor,  with  a  smile, "  of  the  at- 
tempt of  Prince  Bismarck  to  have  German  take  the  place  of  French  as 
the  language  of  diplomacy  ?" 

Neither  of  the  boys  had  heard  the  anecdote,  which  the  Doctor  gave  as 
follows : 

"  Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Franco-German  War,  in  1870,  Bismarck 
thought  he  would  establish  German  as  the  diplomatic  language,  and  with 


PRINCE    GORTCHAKOFF. 


this  object  in  view  he  made  use  of  German  instead  of  French  in  an  offi- 
cial communication  to  Prince  Gortchakoff,  the  foreign  minister  of  Russia. 
Gortchakoff  promptly  replied  to  the  communication,  and  wrote  in  Russian. 
Bismarck  saw  the  joke,  and  desisted  from  further  attempts  to  carry  out 
his  design." 

"Returning  to  our  subject,"  said  the  Doctor,  " there  are  daily  papers 


134  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

in  the  large  towns  of  Russia,  and  weekly  or  semi-monthly  papers  in  the 
smaller  ones ;  but  with  its  population  of  one  hundred  millions,  the  Em- 
pire has  less  than  one-tenth  as  many  newspapers  as  we  have  in  the  United 
States,  and  probably  not  more  than  one-fiftieth,  or  even  one-hundredth,  of 
the  circulation. 

"The  first  printing-press  in  Russia  was  set  up  in  1564.  The  first 
newspaper  was  printed  at  Moscow  in  1704,  and  the  second  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, a  year  later.  Peter  the  Great  abolished  the  use  of  the  old  Slavic 
characters  for  printing  purposes,  and  personally  supervised  the  casting  at 
Amsterdam  of  the  types  in  the  Russian  common  language  as  we  now 
find  it. 

"  In  addition  to  the  newspapers  there  are  many  magazines  and  reviews 
in  Russia,  and  some  of  them  have  a  very  large  circulation.  They  contain 
articles  on  the  condition  of  the  country,  biographical  sketches  of  distin- 
guished Russians,  historical  notices  of  cities  aud  towns,  scientific  reports, 
travels,  anecdotes,  and  stories  by  Russian  writers,  together  with  translations 
of  European  or  American  works.  '  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin '  was  published 
in  one  of  the  Russian  magazines,  and  so  were  the  stories  of  Dickens  and 
other  English  authors.  The  magazines  go  to  all  parts  of  the  Empire,  and 
have  a  larger  circulation,  pnyportioned  to  that  of  the  newspapers,  than  do 
periodicals  elsewhere." 

The  conversation  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  entrance  of  the  guide, 
who  said  it  was  time  to  start  for  their  proposed  excursion  to  Peterhof. 
In  a  few  minutes  they  were  on  the  way  to  the  station,  and  in  due  time 
were  seated  in  the  train  which  carried  them  to  their  destination. 

Peterhof  is  on  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Einland,  not  far  from  Cron- 
stadt ;  in  fact  the  excursion  included  a  visit  to  Cronstadt  before  the  party 
returned  to  the  city.  The  palace  was  begun  in  1720,  under  the  direction 
of  Peter  the  Great.  Nearly  every  sovereign  of  Russia  has  made  additions 
and  alterations,  but  the  original  palace  remains,  and  its  general  character- 
istics are  preserved.  Even  the  yellow  paint  which  Peter  adopted  is  still 
in  use,  and  the  palace  contains  several  relics  of  the  great  Czar,  which  are 
regarded  with  reverence  by  Russian  visitors,  and  with  interest  by  others. 

"It  was  here  that  Peter  the  Great  died,"  wrote  Fred  in  his  journal. 
'•  They  showed  us  the  bed  whereon  he  breathed  his  last,  and  it  was  in  the 
same  condition  as  when  he  left  it.  It  is  not  in  the  palace,  but  in  a  small 
building  in  the  grounds,  and  it  is  said  that  in  the  same  building  the  Em- 
press Elizabeth  sometimes  amused  her  courtiers  by  cooking  her  own  din- 
ner. From  another  building,  called  Marly,  Peter  used  to  watch  his  fleet 
of  ships  at  anchor  near  Cronstadt ;  and  in  another,  The  Hermitage,  there 


DINING-TABLE   OF   CATHERINE   THE   GREAT. 


135 


is  a  curious  arrangement,  devised  by  Catherine  II.,  so  that  a  party  at  din- 
ner did  not  need  the  aid  of  servants.     You  wonder  how  it  was  done  \ 

"  In  front  of  eacli  person  at  table  there  was  a  circular  opening,  through 
which  a  plate  could  be  lowered  to  the  kitchen  or  carving-room  below,  and 
replaced  by  another.  Imagine,  if  you  please,  a  miniature  '  lift,'  or  elevator, 
for  each  place  at  table,  and  you  will  understand  the  arrangement.  Thus  a 
dinner  of  any  number  of  courses  could  be  served,  and  the  party  would  be 
entirely  by  itself.  Catherine  used  this  dining-room  when  she  wished  to 
discuss  State  secrets  with  foreign  ambassadors,  and  be  sure  that  no  listening 
servant  could  betray  them. 


CABINET    AND    CHAIR    IN    THE    PALACE. 


"  The  palace  contains  many  tapestries,  articles  of  porcelain,  malachite, 
and  other  costly  things,  and  there  are  many  pictures  representing  battles 
fought  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century.  One  room  contains  nearly 
four  hundred  portraits  of  girls  in  all  parts  of  European  Russia,  which  were 
painted  by  a  French  count  who  travelled  through  the  Empire  in  Cather- 
ine's time.  The  wonderful  thing  about  them  is,  that  the  artist  who  exe- 
cuted the  pictures  was  able  to  represent  the  subjects  in  different  attitudes, 
so  that  no  two  are  alike. 


136 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


"  They  showed  us  the  tables  and  benches  where  several  of  the  emper- 
ors played  when  they  were  children,  and  also  the  playthings  that  amused 
them. 

"  The  grounds  are  quite  as  interesting  as  the  palace.  They  are  beauti- 
fully laid  out  in  gardens,  dotted  with  lakes,  cascades,  fountains,  and  little 
parks.     No  description  in  words  could  do  justice  to  the  spot,  which  must 


ILLUMINATION    IN    A    RUSSIAN    FAKE, 


be  seen  in  an  elaborate  picture  to  be  appreciated.  The  water-works  are 
nearly  as  fine  as  the  celebrated  one  at  Versailles,  or  St.  Cloud  in  France, 
and  of  course  the  Russians  claim  that  they  are  superior.  Occasionally  in 
summer  there  is  a  festival  given  by  the  Emperor  to  some  of  his  foreign 
guests  ;  the  grounds  and  the  lake  are  lighted  up  with  Chinese  lanterns,  and 
the  display  closes  with  an  exhibition  of  fireworks  of  no  small  importance. 
Sometimes  the  Emperor  goes  around  the  lake  in  a  boat  propelled  by  oars- 
men, but  usually  contents  himself  by  looking  on  from  a  pavilion  near  the 
edge  of  the  water. 

"  From  Peterhof  we  drove  to  Oranienbaum,  about  six  miles  away, 
where  we  took  the  boat  to  Cronstadt.     I  can't  begin  to  name  all  the  pal- 


A  VISIT   TO   CRONSTADT. 


137 


aces  and  chateaux  on  the  road,  as  I  was  too  busy  with  looking  at  them  to 
remember  what  they  were  called  ;  and  besides,  if  I  made  a  list  it  might  be 
too  long  to  be  interesting.  We  visited  two  or  three  of  them,  but  had  not 
time  for  all ;  some  were  not  open  to  strangers,  as  they  were  then  occupied 
by  their  owners,  and  these  Russian  grand-dukes  and  duchesses  are  very 
exclusive  in  their  ways. 

"  At  Oranienbaum  we  found  the  little  steamer  which  was  to  convey 
us  to  Cronstadt,  five  miles  away ;  she  puffed,  as  though  conscious  of  her 
importance,  but  did  not  make  very  good  speed,  and  we  had  plenty  of  time 
to  study  Cronstadt  as  we 
approached  it.  The  city 
is  not  very  large,  nor  is 
it  particularly  interesting. 
The  chief  objects  of  at- 
traction are  the  tremen- 
dous fortifications,  which 
are  among  the  strongest 
in  the  world,  and  very  ex- 
tensive. They  were  be- 
gun by  Peter  the  Great, 
in  1703.  and  there  has 
hardly  been  a  year  since 
that  time  when  labor  on 
them  has  entirely  ceased. 
The  harbor  was  filled  with 
ships  belonging  to  the 
war  fleet  of  Russia,  and 
certainly  they  have  a  fleet 
to  be  proud  of.  There 
is  a  smaller  port,  called 
the  'Merchants'  Harbor,' 
where  the  commerce  of 
the  city  is  centred.  It  is 
an  active  place  from  May 
to  November,  when  navi- 
gation is  open,  but  when  the  Baltic  is  sealed  with  ice  in  the  winter 
months,  it  must  be  the  perfection  of  dreariness. 

"  Until  quite  recently  ships  drawing  more  than  ten  feet  of  water  could 
not  pass  the  bar  of  the  Neva  and  ascend  to  St.  Petersburg,  but  were  com- 
pelled to  anchor  at  Cronstadt.     Recently  a  canal  has  been  made,  with  a 


TAPESTRY    AND    FIRE    UTENSILS    AT    PETERHOF. 


13S 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


depth  of  twenty  feet,  so  that  a  great  many  vessels  which  were  formerly 
excluded  on  account  of  their  size  can  ascend  to  the  capital.  During  the 
Crimean  war  Cronstadt  was  blockaded  by  a  French  and  English  fleet ;  an 
attack  was  made  on  the  forts  of  Cronstadt,  but  it  was  easily  repulsed  ;  and 
after  that  time  the  allies  did  nothing  more  than  regard  the  forts  from  a 
safe  distance.  At  Oranienbaum  is  a  palace,  from  whose  top  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  used  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  hostile  fleet ;  the  telescope 
he  employed  is  still  in  the  position  where  he  left  it  on  his  last  trip  to  St. 
Petersburg." 


DOOR-WAT    OF    PETERS    HOUSE    AT    ZAANDAM,    HOLLAND. 


While  our  friends  were  looking  at  the  naval  harbor  of  Cronstadt  and 
the  splendid  fleet  at  anchor  there,  Doctor  Bronson  reminded  the  youths 
that  when  Peter  the  Great  ascended  the  throne  Russia  had  no  navy,  and 
none  of  her  people  knew  anything  about  building  ships. 

"  I  have  read  about  it,"  said  Frank,  "  and  it  was  to  learn  the  art  of 
ship-building  that  he  went  to  England  and  Holland." 

"  That  is  what  history  tells  us,"  the  Doctor  answered.  "  lie  realized 
the  inferior  condition  of  a  country  without  a  navy,  and  sent  intelligent 
young  Russians  to  study  the  art  of  building  and  navigating  ships.  Not 
satisfied  with  what  they  learned,  he  left  Russia  for  about  a  year  and  a 
half,  which  he  spent  in  acquiring  useful  knowledge.  lie  worked  in  a  ship- 
yard in  Holland  disguised  as  a  common  workman,  though  it  is  generally 
believed  that  the  officers  in  charge  of  the  yard  knew  who  he  was.  After- 
wards he  spent  three   months   in   an   English  ship -yard;    and   when   he 


CURIOSITIES   OF  RUSSIAN   SEAMANSHIP. 


139 


returned  to  his  country  he  was  accompanied  by  some  five  hundred  ship- 
wrights, riggers,  sail-makers,  and  other  laborers  required  in  an  establish- 
ment such  as  he  wished  to  create.  From  this  beginning  came  the  navy 
of  Kussia.  The  foundation  of  the  great  fleet  before  us  was  laid  by  Peter 
the  Great. 

"  The  English  and  Dutch  origin  of  Eussian  ship-building  is  shown  in 
the  English  and  Dutch  names  for  the  different  parts  of  a  ship.  The  deck, 
keel,  mast,  and  many  other  nautical  things  are  the  same  in  Eussian  as  in 
English;  the  Eussians  had  no  equivalent  words,  and  naturally  adopted 
the  names  from  the  country  that 
supplied  the  things  named. 

"  And  I  can  tell  you  something 
still  more  curious,"  the  Doctor  con- 
tinued, "as  it  was  told  to  me  by  a 
Eussian  captain.  While  the  ship- 
builders of  Peter  the  Great  were 
from  England  and  Holland  com- 
bined, the  men  to  navigate  the  ships 
after  they  were  built  came  almost 
wholly  from  the  latter  country. 
The  result  is  that  nearly  all  the 
evolutions  of  a  ship,  and  the  move- 
ments of  the  sailors  to  accomplish 
them,  are  in  Dutch,  or  rather  they 
have  been  adopted  from  Dutch  into 
Eussian.  The  Eussian  captain  I 
have  mentioned  stated  it  to  me  in 
this  way : 

" '  A  Dutch  pilot  or  captain  could  come  on  my  ship,  and  his  orders  in 
his  own  language  would  be  understood  by  my  crew :  I  mean  simply  the 
words  of  command,  without  explanations.  On  the  other  hand,  a  Dutch 
crew  could  understand  my  orders  without  suspecting  they  were  in  Eus- 
sian.'" 

"  It  is  no  wonder,"  said  Fred,  "  that  the  Eussians  honor  the  memory 
of  the  great  Peter,  and  that  their  largest  ship  of  war  bears  his  name.  Am 
I  right  in  regard  to  the  siiip  V 

"  It  is  the  largest  at  present,"  replied  the  Doctor,  "  but  there  are  three 
ships — the  Tchesme,  Si/nope,  and  Catherine  II — to  be  completed  in  1887, 
which  will  be  larger  than  the  Peter  the  Great.  The  latter  is  an  iron-clad 
turret-ship  of  8285  horse-power  and  10,000  tons  displacement.     She  car- 


A    STUDENT    OF    NAVIGATION. 


140 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IX   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


ries  eight  guns,  has  two  turrets,  and  her  iron  plating  at  the  water-line  is 
fourteen  inches  thick.  She  is  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet  long  and  six- 
ty feet  wide  in  her  broadest  part,  and  resembles  the  great  mastless  ships 
of  the  British  navy,  particularly  those  of  the  Dreadnought  class.  She  was 
built  at  Cronstadt,  in  1874 ;  the  other  and  larger  ships  I  have  named  are 
on  the  ways  at  Sevastopol  and  Nicolaieff,  on  the  Black  Sea. 


STEAM    E1UGATE    NEAR    CI'.U.N SI ALIT. 


"  Without  going  into  details,  I  will  say  that  the  Russian  navy  consists 
of  two  great  divisions :  the  fleet  of  the  Baltic  and  the  fleet  of  the  Black 
Sea.  Each  of  these  great  divisions  is  subdivided  into  sections :  the  Baltic 
fleet  into  three,  and  the  Black  Sea  fleet  into  two.  The  sections  cany  flags 
of  different  colors,  white,  blue,  and  red  ;  this  arrangement  was  taken  from 
the  Dutch,  like  the  system  of  ship-building  in  Peter's  time. 

"At  the  beginning  of  1SS5  the  Baltic  fleet  consisted  of  two  hundred 
and  nine  vessels,  including  thirty-three  armor-clad  and  belted  ships,  forty- 
nine  unarmored  frigates,  corvettes,  clippers,  and  cruisers,  and  ninety-five 
torpedo-boats.  Gun-boats,  transports,  and  various  other  craft  completed 
the  list.  The  Black  Sea  fleet  included  ninety-eight  vessels,  of  which  seven 
were  armor-clad ;  then  there  are  the  vessels  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the 
Siberian  flotillas ;  and  altogether  the  Russian  navy  comprised  at  that  time 
35S  vessels,  armed  with  671  guns,  with  a  measurement  of  196,575  tons, 
and  engines  of  191.976  horse-power. 

"  Before  we  drop  the  subject  of  Russia's  navy,"  the  Doctor  continued, 
"perhaps  you  would  like  to  hear  about  the  Pojiovkas." 

Neither  of  the  youths  had  heard  of  these  things,  and  wondered  what 


"  POPOVKAS." 


141 


they  could  be.  Doctor  Bronson  relieved  their  perplexity  by  explaining 
that  the  Popovkas  were  a  new  style  of  iron-clad  ship  intended  for  the  de- 
fence of  harbors,  rather  than  for  rapid  cruising  at  sea. 

"  They  were  the  invention  of  Admiral  Popoff,  of  the  Russian  navy," 
he  remarked,  "  and  hence  comes  their  name.  The  first  of  them  was  built 
in  1873,  at  Nicolaieff,  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  was  called  the  Novgorod. 
She  is  circular,  with  a  diameter  of  one  hundred  feet,  and  carries  two  eleven- 
inch  guns  in  a  revolving  turret  like  that  of  the  Monitor.  She  measures 
two  thousand  tons,  and  has  engines  which  propel  her  about  six  miles  an 
hour.  The  other  ship  of  this  class  is  the  Admiral  Popoff,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  carrying  two  twelve-inch  guns  in  a  revolving 
turret,  and  capable  of  steaming  eight  miles  an  hour.  There  is  a  gentle 
slope  of  the  sides  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  base  of  the  turret,  so  that 
any  other  shot  than  a  plunging  one 
would  be  glanced  off.  As  the  ships 
have  not  yet  been  tried  in  battle, 
their  advantages  are  only  theoret- 
ical." 

Frank  asked  how  many  officers 
and  men  were  employed  in  the  navy 
of  the  Czar. 

"  From  the  latest  reports  at 
hand,"  the  Doctor  answered,  "  there 
are  twenty-nine  admirals,  vice-admi- 
rals, and  rear-admirals,  four  hundred 

and  four  captains,  and  nine  hundred  and  thirty-four  lieutenants  and  mid- 
shipmen. Seventy-six  admirals,  one  hundred  and  forty  captains,  and  fifty 
lieutenants  are  employed  on  shore  duty,  and  there  are  thirty-five  captains 
and  thirty-nine  lieutenants  and  midshipmen  serving  in  lines  of  commercial 
steamers  subsidized  by  the  Government ;  one  thousand  and  ninety-four 
pilots,  engineers,  artillerists,  and  others  complete  the  official  list,  and  the 
men  before  the  mast  number  twenty-four  thousand  five  hundred  and 
twelve.  The  sailors  are  obtained  by  conscription  or  by  voluntary  enlist- 
ment— generally  the  former — and  required  to  serve  nine  years.  Seven 
years  of  this  period  are  in  active  service,  and  two  years  in  the  reserve, 
whence  the  men  may  be  called  out  in  case  of  war." 

"  Please  tell  us  something  about  the  Russian  army,"  said  Fred,  "  as  the 
army  and  navy  are  very  closely  related." 

"  I  think  you  have  had  enough  of  statistics  for  one  day,"  Doctor  Brou- 
son  replied, "  and  if  they  are  all  in  your  journals  your  readers  may  be  in- 


EHIUATE    UNDER    SAIL    AND    STEAM. 


142 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


clined  to  skip  them.  But  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious  yon  cannot  omit 
saying  something  about  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  a  nation  which  is 
the  most  thoroughly  military  and  naval  power  of  modern  times.  There 
is  no  throne  in  Europe  more  dependent  upon  the  weapons  of  war  than  is 
that  of  Russia.  Take  away  the  army  and  nav}%  and  Russia  would  follow 
the  fate  of  Poland,  and  be  speedily  dismembered  by  her  neighbors.  Eng- 
land, France,  Germany,  and  Austria  would  have  made  an  end  of  Russia 
long  ago  but  for  the  resisting  power  of  which  she  is  capable." 


THE    "DREADNOUGHT" — TYPE    OF   THE    "  PETER    THE    UREAT.'' 


Frank  and  Fred  declared  that  they  would  like  to  hear  then  and  there 
about  the  army,  and  so  the  Doctor  continued  : 

"  The  army  of  Russia  previous  to  1874  was  drawn  entirely  from  the 
classes  of  artisans  and  peasants  by  means  of  a  conscription  and  the  enrol- 
ment of  the  sons  of  soldiers.  In  that  year  a  new  law  was  approved  by  the 
Emperor  making  all  men  who  had  completed  their  twenty-first  year,  and 
were  not  physically  exempt,  liable  to  service.  The  purchase  of  substitutes 
is  not  permitted  by  the  new  law ;  each  man  drawn  by  the  conscription  is 
required  to  pass  six  years  in  active  service  and  nine  years  in  the  reserve, 
making  a  total  of  fifteen  years  in  all.  AVhile  in  the  reserve  the  men  are 
liable  to  be  called  out  only  in  case  of  war,  and  if  so  called  out,  the  young- 


THE  RUSSIAN  ARMY. 


US 


er  are  put  into  active  service  in  the  field,  while  the  older  ones  are  em- 
ployed for  garrisoning  forts  and  other  light  work." 

"  Don't  they  have  any  exemption  for  the  sons  of  rich  men  ?"  one  of 
the  youths  inquired. 

"  Theoretically  there  is  none,"  the  Doctor  answered  ;  "  but  in  order 
to  cover  such  cases,  and  particularly  to  provide  officers  for  the  army,  it  is 
arranged  that  young  men  with  a  fair  education  may  be  enrolled  as  volun- 
teers for  short  terms  during  and   from  their  seventeenth    year    of   age. 


Grenadier.  Chasseur  of        Fifer  of  the 

tbe  Guard.  Guard. 


THE    RUSSIAN    ARMY REGULAR    TROOPS. 


"When  their  volunteer  service  is  completed  they  may  pass  into  the  reserve, 
or  be  subjected  to  an  examination  for  commissions  as  officers  either  in  the 


144 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


active  army  or  the  reserve.  In  the  reserve,  whether  as  officers  or  privates, 
they  are  liable  to  be  called  for  duty  any  time  before  their  thirty-sixth 
year." 


COSSACK    LANCERS    AND    RUSSIAN    GUARD-HOUSE, 


Fred  asked  what  proportion  of  the  male  population  was  taken  for  the 
army  every  year  by  means  of  the  conscription. 

"As  before  stated,  every  able-bodied  man  is  liable,"  was  the  reply; 
"but  it  is  generally  found  that  a  conscription  of  four  in  a  thousand  will 
produce  from  ninety  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand  men.     On  a  peace 


THE   COSSACKS.  145 

footing  the  active  army  contains  abont  twenty  thousand  officers  and  five 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  men  ;  the  reserve  adds  eight  thousand  and 
one  hundred  thousand  to  these  figures  respectively,  so  that  the  total  peace 
footing  is  twenty-eight  thousand  officers  and  six  hundred  and  thirty  thou- 
sand men." 

"  And  how  much  is  the  war  footing  ?" 

"  The  war  footing,  according  to  the  latest  figures,  to  give  it  exactly,  is 
41,551  officers  and  1,176,353  men.  Add  to  this  the  whole  able-bodied 
militia  liable  to  be  called  into  service  in  case  of  necessity,  and  the  avail- 
able war  forces  of  Russia  amount  to  about  3,200,000.  On  the  peace  foot- 
ing, the  army  has  129,736  horses  and  1811  guns,  which  are  increased  in 
time  of  war  to  366,351  horses  and  3778  guns.  In  18S3  a  census  of  the 
horses  in  fifty-eight  provinces  of  European  Russia  showed  that  there  were 
nearly  fifteen  millions  of  these  animals  fit  for  service  in  case  of  need." 

One  of  the  youths  wished  to  know  something  about  the  Cossacks,  and 
whether  they  formed  a  part  of  the  army  or  not. 

"  The  Cossack  is  an  irregular  soldier,"  the  Doctor  replied,  "  though  in 
some  cases  he  is  not  a  soldier  at  all.  The  origin  of  the  Cossacks  is  un- 
known, some  claiming  that  they  belong  to  the  Tartar,  and  others  to  the 
Russian  race.  The  probability  is  that  they  are  a  combination  of  the  two. 
They  were  first  heard  of  in  the  tenth  century,  in  the  valley  of  the  Don 
River;  in  the  wars  of  Russia  with  the  Turks  and  Tartars,  about  the  fif- 
teenth century,  they  showed  a  great  deal  of  bravery  and  an  excellent  or- 
ganization of  a  semi-military  character. 

"  They  are  more  Russian  than  Tartar  in  their  language,  religion,  and 
customs.  The  rulers  of  Russia  have  not  always  found  affairs  running 
smoothly  between  themselves  and  the  Cossacks,  and  when  the  latter  felt 
they  had  not  been  properly  treated  they  were  not  slow  to  rebel.  A  revolt 
was  generally  followed  by  an  emigration  of  the  Cossacks  into  the  Tartar 
country  to  the  east,  and  in  nearly'  every  instance  this  emigration  resulted 
in  the  addition  of  new  territory  to  Russia." 

"  I  believe  1  have  read  that  the  conquest  of  Siberia  was  accomplished 
in  this  way,"  said  one  of  the  youths. 

"  You  are  right,"  was  the  reply,  "  and  the  whole  conquest  hardly7  cost 
anything  to  the  Government.  About  three  hundred  years  ago  a  tribe  of 
Don  Cossacks  rebelled,  and  under  the  guidance  of  Yermak,  their  hetman, 
or  leader,  crossed  the  Ural  Mountains  into  Asia.  They  began  a  career 
of  conquest,  which  was  pushed  so  rapidly  that  in  less  than  seventy  years 
they  and  their  descendants  had  carried  their  banner  to  the  shores  of  the 
Okhotsk  Sea.     In  the  early  part  of  their  career  they  offered  the  conquered 

10 


146 


THK   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


territory  to  the  Czar,  and  received  in  return  a  pardon  for  their  misdeeds 
on  the  Don.  History  furnishes  no  parallel  to  this  conquest,  which  was 
made  by  a  few  hundred  outlaws,  and  carried  to  a  successful  end  with  little 


IK 


Lcspiiin.        Cossnck  of        Circassi; 
tilt'  Don. 


Tartar  Cossack 
of  the  Crimea, 


Cossack  of  the 
Caucasus. 


Cossack  of 
the  Ural. 


THE    RUSSIAN    ARMY — IRREfiCLAR   TROOPS. 


assistance  from  others  and  no  support  from  the  Government.     But  to  re- 
turn to  the  Cossacks  of  to-day : 

"The  Cossacks  are  a  race  of  freemen.  With  only  a  few  exceptions, 
none  of  them  have  ever  been  serfs.  The  whole  land  where  they  live  be- 
longs to  them  in  common,  and  they  have  equal  rights  in  hunting  and  fish- 
ing.   They  pay  no  taxes  to  Government,  but  in  place  of  taxes  are  required 


COSSACK  ORGANIZATION  AND  EQUIPMENT.  147 

to  give  a  certain  number  of  days1  service  in  each  year.  Every  Cossack 
feeds  and  equips  himself  at  his  own  expense,  and  provides  and  feeds  his 
horse.  If  called  to  serve  outside  the  boundaries  of  his  own  country,  he 
receives  rations  for  himself  and  horse  and  a  small  amount  of  pay ;  but 
this  ceases  when  he  returns  to  his  own  land.  The  Cossacks  have  their 
own  officers,  which  were  formerly  chosen  by  themselves,  but  are  now 
appointed  by  the  Government,  the  latter  usually  being  careful  to  send 
officers  such  as  the  Cossacks  approve. 

"  The  military  organization  of  the  Cossacks  is  in  ten  great  divisions 
called  '  woisskosj  that  of  the  Don  being  the  largest.  Each  woissho  fur- 
nishes, according  to  its  population,  a  certain  number  of  regiments  fully 
armed  and  equipped,  and  constantly  under  military  discipline.  These 
regiments  must  be  prepared  to  march  for  active  service  ten  days  after  be- 
ing notified.  Altogether  in  time  of  war  the  Cossacks  of  the  various  parts 
of  the  Empire,  available  for  war  service,  are  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men. 

"They  are  splendid  horsemen,  and  their  best  service  is  as  cavalry. 
They  can  endure  hunger,  cold,  and  fatigue  beyond  ordinary  soldiers,  and 
are  very  troublesome  to  an  enemy.  In  the  retreat  of  Napoleon's  army 
from  Moscow  they  made  great  havoc,  and  many  thousands  of  French  sol- 
diers fell  beneath  the  Cossack  lance  and  sabre.  They  have  an  undeserved 
reputation  for  cruelty,  as  they  are  probably  no  worse,  and  certainly  no  bet- 
ter, than  other  kinds  of  soldiers.  War  at  its  best  is  a  cruel  business,  and 
in  no  age  of  the  world  has  it  been  the  custom  for  armies  to  refrain  from 
hurting  their  enemies  when  it  was  in  their  power  to  do  so." 

This  conversation  occupied  most  of  the  time  while  the  boat  was  steam- 
ing from  Cronstadt  to  St.  Petersburg.  Seated  near  our  friends  was  an 
officer  whose  coat  did  not  show  any  buttons.  It  was  fastened  with  hooks 
like  those  on  a  lady's  dress,  and  Frank  called  attention  to  its  peculiarity. 

Doctor  Bronson  explained  that  the  officer  was  of  the  Cossack  branch 
of  the  service,  this  being  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Cossack  uni- 
form. The  Cossack  soldier  wears  a  sheepskin  coat,  fastened  with  a  girdle 
at  the  waist.  He  abhors  buttons,  and  the  uniform  of  the  officers  is  made 
to  conform  to  their  tastes. 

On  the  lower  deck  of  the  boat  was  a  squad  of  soldiers,  under  command 
of  a  sergeant,  who  had  probably  been  to  Cronstadt  on  some  official  duty, 
and  were  now  returning.  Fred  called  attention  to  the  singular  hats  worn 
by  the  soldiers,  each  hat  having  a  high  plate  of  brass  in  front,  and  remind- 
ing the  youths  of  the  hats  worn  by  the  soldiers  in  the  comic  opera  of  the 
"  Grand-duchess  of  Gerolsteiu."' 


148 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  LN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"It  is  not  unlike  a  coal-scut- 
tle in  shape,"  said  Fred,  "and 
must  be  an  uncomfortable  piece 
of  head-gear." 

"That  is  a  regiment  which 
was  organized  in  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Paul,"  said  the  Doctor, 
"  and  the  design  of  the  hat  was 
made  by  him  —  at  least  that  is 
what  a  Russian  officer  told  me. 
Observe  that  there  is  a  perfora- 
tion in  the  brass  of  each  hat,  as 
though  made  by  a  bullet,  and 
some  of  the  hats  have  two  or 
three  holes. 

"  The  tradition  is,"  continued 
the  Doctor,  "that  the  regiment 
once  showed  cowardice  when 
brought  face  to  face  with  the 
French  invaders  during  the  war 
of  1812.  In  the  next  battle  they 
were  put  in  the  front,  and  kept 
there ;  half  their  number  were 
killed,  and  nearly  every  hat  was 
perforated  by  a  bullet.  Since 
that  time  the  helmets  are  pre- 
served just  as  they  were  when 
the  battle  ended.  When  a  new 
helmet  is  ordered  to  replace  an 
old  one,  it  is  perforated  just  as 
was  its  predecessor.  Hence  the 
curious  appearance  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  grenadier  regiment  organ- 
ized by  Paul. 
"  The  discipline  of  the  Eussian  army  is  severe,  and  there  are  no  better 
regiments,  either  for  parade  or  fighting  purposes,  than  those  stationed  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  great  cities.  Reviews  of  the  army  are  held  fre- 
cpiently.  When  the  Emperor  goes  in  person  to  the  grand  review  every 
year  the  sight  is  a  magnificent  one. 

"The  Russian  Imperial  family  is  full  of  soldierly  qualities,  which  is 


GRAND-DUKE    MICHAEL. 


ANECDOTE  OF  A  GRAND-DUKE. 


149 


not  at  all  strange  when  we  remember  their  training.  Sometimes  it  is 
pushed  to  an  extreme  degree.  The  Grand-duke  Michael,  brother  of  the 
Emperor  Nicholas,  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  rigid  disciplina- 
rians ever  known  ;  and  whenever  he  inspected  a  division,  not  a  button,  or 
even  the  point  of  a  mustache,  escaped  his  notice.  Parades  were  his  de- 
light, and  he  could  ride  at  full  gallop  along  the  front  of  a  line  and  detect 
the  least  irregularity.     He  used  to  say, 

"  '  I  detest  war  ;  it  interferes  with  parades,  and  soils  the  uniforms.' 

"He  disliked  the  Cossacks  because  they  did  not  appear  well  at  re- 
views ;  in  his  eyes  their  excellent  lighting  qualities  were  of  minor  impor- 
tance. 

"The  Cossacks  carry  their  cartridges  in  a  row  of  pockets  on  the 
breasts  of  their  coats,  and  not  in  cartridge-boxes,  as  do  other  soldiers.  The 
Grand-duke  thought  a  soldier's  uniform  was  incomplete  without  a  car- 
tridge-box, probably  for  the  reason  that  it  gave  him  a  certain  amount  of 
work  to  keep  it  clean  and  bright.  This  was  another  reason  for  his  dislike 
of  the  irregular  troops,  which  form  such  an  effective  arm  of  the  service  in 
time  of  war." 

The  steamer  deposited  its  passengers  at  the  quay  near  Admiralty 
Square,  and  our  friends  again  trod  the  soil  of  St.  Petersburg,  after  an  in- 
teresting and  instructive  day  in  the  environs  of  the  city.  Frank  and  Fred 
devoted  the  evening  to  writing  out  what  they  had  learned  during  the 
trip  to  Peterhof  and  Cronstadt,  and  especially  to  making  notes  upon  the 
army  and  navy  of  Russia.  To  refresh  their  memories,  they  referred  to  a 
copy  of  "  The  Statesman's  Year-book,"  which  happened  to  be  in  the 
room,  and  said  they  would  cordially  recommend  it  to  others  who  might 
seek  similar  information. 


IRON-CLAD    STEAMER    OF    THE    BALTIC    FLEET. 


150  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

VISITING  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ST.  PETERSBURG.  —  EDUCATION  IN  RUSSIA.  — PRI- 
MARY AND  OTHER  SCHOOLS.— THE  SYSTEM  OF  INSTRUCTION".— RECENT  PROG- 
RESS IN  EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS. —  UNIVERSITIES  IN  THE  EMPIRE:  THEIR 
NUMBER  AND  LOCATION.— RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.— TREATMENT  OF  THE  JEWS.— 
THE  ISLANDS  OF  THE  NEVA,  AND  WHAT  WAS  SEEN  THERE.— IN  A  TRAKTIR. 
—BRIBERY  AMONG  RUSSIAN  OFFICIALS. 

NEXT  morning  the  party  was  out  in  good  season.  It  had  an  appoint- 
ment with  a  professor  attached  to  the  University  of  St.  Petersburg 
for  a  visit  to  that  institution.  He  was  to  take  breakfast  with  them,  and 
afterwards  would  escort  them  through  the  library  and  other  rooms  of  the 
establishment.  While  they  were  at  breakfast  the  professor  entertained  the 
youths  with  an  account  of  the  educational  condition  of  Russia,  which 
we  will  endeavor  to  repeat  as  nearly  as  it  was  remembered  by  Frank  and 
Fred. 

"  On  behalf  of  my  country,"  said  the  professor,  "  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  we  are  behind  England,  Germany,  Austria,  and  most  other  nations 
of  Europe  in  the  matter  of  general  education,  but  not  nearly  as  backward 
as  we  were  in  past  years.  We  have  no  system  of  common-schools  such 
as  you  have  in  the  United  States,  and  the  mass  of  the  population  is  practi- 
cally without  instruction  beyond  what  they  receive  from  the  village 
priests.  Down  to  the  time  of  Alexander  II.  the  village  schools  were  con- 
trolled by  the  priests,  and  no  one  else  could  be  a  teacher  in  them.  That 
progressive  monarch  issued  an  order  requiring  the  schools  to  be  given  to 
the  most  capable  applicants,  whether  priests  or  not.  This  was  a  great  step 
in  advance,  as  the  priests  were  not  unfrequently  nearly  as  illiterate  as  the 
people  they  were  set  to  instruct. 

"  To  show  how  we  are  progressing,  let  me  say  that  in  1860  only  two 
out  of  every  hundred  recruits  levied  for  the  army  were  able  to  read  and 
write  ;  in  1S70  the  proportion  had  increased  to  eleven  in  a  hundred,  and 
in  1SS2  to  nineteen  in  a  hundred.  In  1880  there  were  22,770  primary- 
schools  in  the  villages,  with  1,1-10,915  pupils:  904,918  boys  and  235,997 
girls.     The  teachers  were  19,511  men  and  4878  women.      Some  of  the 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  IN  RUSSIAN  SCHOOLS. 


151 


primary -schools  are  entirely  supported  by  the  Government,  and  others 
partly  by  the  Government  and  partly  by  a  small  tax  upon  the  parents  of 
each  pupil.  The  latter  plan  is  not  satisfactory,  as  it  discourages  poor  peo- 
ple with  many  children  from  sending  them  to  school,  and  it  is  probable 
that  in  a  few  years  all  the  schools  will  be  free." 


LITTLE    FOLKS    AT    dCHOOL. 


One  of  the  youths  asked  what  was  taught  in  the  village  schools  of 
Russia. 

"  Reading  and  writing,"  the  professor  answered,  "  are  the  first  things, 
as  a  matter  of  course ;  and  then  come  arithmetic,  grammar,  and  geography, 
in  the  order  I  have  named  them.  Church  and  State  are  so  closely  con- 
nected in  Russia  that  the  primary  education  includes  the  form  of  prayer; 
it  is  a  part  of  the  daily  exercise  of  the  schools,  except  for  those  who  pro- 
fess other  than  the  orthodox  faith,  and  in  former  times  children  of  dis- 
senters were  not  allowed  to  attend  the  schools.  Catholics,  Lutherans,  and 
others  were  instructed  by  their  own  teachers,  and,  failing  this,  they  had  no 
instruction  whatever.  At  present  children  of  any  faith  can  attend  the 
village  schools,  and  where  there  is  a  mixed  population  the  schools  are 
divided. 

"In  1S50,"  the  professor  continued,  "there  were  less  than  three  thou- 


152 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


sand  village  schools  in  the  Empire  ;  the  increase  to  more  than  twenty-two 
thousand  in  thirty  years  shows  how  rapid  has  been  our  progress.  We 
have  great  hopes  for  the  future,  and  at  the  end  of  another  thirty  years  I 
trust  you  will  find  us  not  much  behind  the  other  countries  of  Europe." 

Doctor  Bronson  asked  about  the  higher  instruction  in  Russia,  and  how 
it  compared  with  that  of  other  lands. 

"  One  of  the  drawbacks  to  higher  education  in  its  broad  sense,"  said 
the  professor,  "  was  the  custom  that  prevailed,  and  still  prevails  to  a  great 


LEARNING    TO    WEAVE. 


extent,  for  rich  people  to  educate  their  children  at  home.  Every  noble- 
man who  could  afford  it  had  a  tutor  for  his  boys  and  a  governess  for  his 
girls.     There  is  no  country  where  tutors  and  governesses  were  more  cer- 


TUTORS  AND  GOVERNESSES. 


153 


tain  of  employment  than  in  Russia,  and  I  have  the  assurances  from  them, 
a  hundred  times  repeated,  that  they  were  better  treated  here  than  any- 
where else.  A  tutor  or  governess  is  almost  invariably  made  a  member  of 
the  family,  sits  with  them  at  table,  is  presented  to  visitors,  forms  a  part  of 
their  social  circle,  and  is  made  to  feel  thoroughly  at  home.  Governesses 
are    usually    English 


or  French,  while  tu- 
tors are  generally 
French  or  Germans. 
The  education  of 
these  home  taught 
children  begins  at  a 


MINERAL    CABINET    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY. 


very  early  age,  and  they  naturally  speak  with  fluency  the  language  of 
their  instructors;  hence  it  follows  that  the  Russians  of  the  higher  classes 
have,  justly,  the  reputation  of  being  the  best  linguists  of  Europe." 

As  the  professor  paused,  Frank  remarked  that  he  had  observed  how 
almost  every  Russian  officer  spoke  French  or  German,  and  many  of  them 
spoke  French,  German,  and  English.  "  French  seems  to  be  almost  uni- 
versal among  them,''  he  added, "  at  least  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
learn.'' 

"That  is  true,"  said  the  professor,  "and  there  are  many  Russians  who 
speak  French  better  than  they  do  their  own  language.  With  French 
nurses  in  their  infancy,  French  governesses  or  tutors  as  their  years  ad- 
vance, and  with  their  parents  speaking  French,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 

"  The  system  of  home  education  discouraged  the  education  of  the 
schools  among  the  nobility,  and  it  was  only  during  the  reign  of  Nicholas 


154  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

that  a  change  was  made.  Count  Ouvaroff,  Minister  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion under  the  Iron  Czar,  set  the  example  by  sending  his  own  son  to  the 
University  of  St.  Petersburg.  The  example  was  followed,  and  the  attend- 
ance at  the  universities  and  normal  schools  increased  rapidly.  Nicholas 
gave  the  system  a  military  character  by  decreeing  that  the  students  should 
wear  cocked  hats  and  swords,  but  this  was  abandoned  by  Alexander  II. 
The  policy  of  Nicholas  was  shown  in  the  words  of  his  instruction  to 
Count  Ouvaroff, '  Orthodoxy,  Autocracy,  Nationality.'  " 

Fred  asked  how  many  universities  and  high-schools  there  were  in  the 
Empire. 

"There  are  nine  universities,''  the  professor  answered,  ''situated  at  St. 
Petersburg,  Moscow,  Kief,  Kazan,  "Wilna,  Dorpat,  Kharkov,  Odessa,  and 
"Warsaw.*  The  professors  are  paid  by  the  Government,  and  the  poor  stu- 
dents have  an  allowance  for  their  support.  To  be  admitted  to  the  univer- 
sities, they  must  pass  an  examination  in  the  course  of  instruction  in  the 
gymnasia  or  high-schools,  which  are  in  the  provincial  towns,  about  four 
hundred  in  all,  or  must  have  received  ecpiivalent  instruction  at  home. 
The  high -schools  or  gymnasia  correspond  to  your  academies  or  high- 
schools  in  America,  and  hold  the  same  relation  to  the  universities. 

"Besides  the  universities,  which  confer  degrees  in  law,  medicine, 
mathematics,  natural  history,  philology,  and  the  Oriental  languages,  there 
are  distinct  schools  of  medicine  and  law,  like  the  medical  and  law  schools 
of  other  countries.  There  are  four  free  high-schools  for  the  education  of 
women,  and  the  applicants  for  admission  are  constantly  in  excess  of  the 
facilities  for  their  instruction.  There  was  a  medical  school  for  women, 
but  it  was  closed  in  1SS4  on  account  of  its  use  as  a  means  of  disseminating 
revolutionary  ideas." 

Frank  and  Fred  wished  to  obtain  further  information  about  the  rea- 
son for  closing  this  medical  school,  but  they  remembered  that  the  profess- 
or would  probably  dislike  to  discuss  the  subject,  as  it  had  a  political  bear- 
ing, and  so  no  question  about  it  was  asked. 

Breakfast  was  over,  and  the  party  entered  the  carriage,  which  was  wait- 
ing at  the  door,  and  were  driven  to  the  university. 

"  One  thing  I  forgot  to  say,"  said  the  professor,  as  soon  as  they  were 
seated  in  the  vehicle,  "  and  that  was  about   education  in  Finland.     The 

*  Recently  the  Government  decided  to  establish  a  Siberian  university.  It  was  to  be 
opened  at  Tomsk  iu  1886,  but  there  was  great  opposition  to  it  by  a  large  and  influential 
party,  who  claim  that  a  Siberian  university  would  be  a  great  peril  to  autocracy  in  Russia. 
They  look  upon  Siberia  as  the  source  of  many  liberal,  and  therefore  dangerous,  ideas,  and 
say  the  new  university  will  greatly  facilitate  their  development. 


RUSSIAN  UNIVERSITIES  AND   HIGH-SCHOOLS. 


15c 


grand-duchy  lias  a  system  of  public  instruction  distinct  from  that  of  the 
rest  of  the  Empire.  It  has  a  university  at  Helsingfors,  high-schools  in  all 
principal  towns,  and  elementary  schools  in  the  villages.  Almost  the  en- 
tire population  can  read,  and  nearly  every  youth  can  write  during  his 
school-days,  though  he  often  forgets  this  accomplishment  in  later  years. 

"To  return  to  Russia,  all  through  the  Empire  there  are  agricultural, 
mining,  engineering,  and  other  industrial  schools,  and  there  are  also  nu- 
merous military  schools,  which  have  a  separate  system  of  instruction.  The 
cadets  are  transferred  from  the  military  gymnasia  to  the  '  military  schools,' 


PAliLOIt    IN    A    HIGH-SCHOOL    POK    WOMEN. 


in  which  they  are  educated  to  qualify  them  for  commissions  as  officers. 
There  are  three  academies — for  the  staff,  engineers,  and  artillery — and  in 
these  academies  the  higher  branches  of  military  science  are  taught.  The 
religious  schools  are  attached  to  the  Church,  and  the  instruction  is  man- 
aged by  the  clergy.  Here  we  are  at  the  university  just  as  my  impromptu 
lecture  upon  education  in  Russia  has  reached  its  end." 

Our  friends  were  introduced  by  their  companion  to  several  others  of 
the  faculty,  and  passed  an  hour  at  the  university  very  pleasantly.  They 
learned  that  the  usual  attendance  was  about  four  hundred,  and  the  profess- 
ors and  lecturers  numbered  nearly  thirty.     In  addition  to  what  is  usually 


J  56 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


taught  in  universities  there  were  lecturers  upon  the  Oriental  languages. 
A  goodly  number  of  students  give  their  attention  to  the  Asiatic  tongues, 
with  a  view  to  qualifying  themselves  for  future  usefulness  in  that  direc- 
tion. The  Professor  of  Chinese  was  among  those  to  whom  our  friends 
were  introduced. 

"He  is  an  accomplished  gentleman,"  said  Frank  in  his  note-book  ;  "  he 
speaks  French  and  Russian  as  fluently  as  he  does  his  native  language,  and 


PRIVATE    ROOM    OF    A    WEALTHY    STUDENT. 


his  questions  about  America  showed  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
history  of  our  country.  The  rest  of  the  Oriental  professors  were  in  Euro- 
pean dress,  but  the  Chinese  one  was  not.  lie  was  in  the  same  garments 
he  would  wear  at  Shanghai  or  Peking,  and  his  hair  was  plaited  into  an 
irreproachable  pigtail. 

"  The  halls  were  pleasant  and  spacious,"  continued  Frank,  "  and  the 
students  that  we  saw  had  intelligent  faces ;  they  appeared  much  like  the 
students  at  an  English  university,  but  we  thought  there  was  an  expression 
of  more  earnestness  in  their  faces.  The  professor  told  us  that  the  young 
men  who  attended  the  university  gave  very  little  trouble  in  the  matter 
of  discipline,  and  the  disgraceful  pranks  of  students  at  Oxford  and  Cam- 


LIBRARY  AND  MUSEUM  IN  THE  ST.  PETERSBURG  UNIVERSITY.     157 

bridge  were  practically  unknown  in  Russia.  It  is  so  recently  that  educa- 
tion has  been  in  the  reach  of  everybody  in  this  country  that  its  value  is 
more  appreciated  than  elsewhere. 

"  The  library  contains  more  than  sixty  thousand  volumes,  and  there  is 
a  good  scientific  collection  in  the  museum.  The  students  have  the  privi- 
lege of  visiting  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  under  certain  restrictions,  where 


LOVVKU    UKUIl'ATION-UUUM. 


they  have  access  to  a  library  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  volumes 
and  an  extensive  museum.  The  latter  has  an  Asiatic  department,  which 
contains  many  objects  of  great  interest  to  students  of  matters  pertaining 
to  Asia.  "We  went  to  the  museum  after  seeing  the  university  and  looked 
at  the  remains  of  the  Siberian  mammoths,  which  were  found  embedded 
in  the  ice  where  they  had  lain  for  thousands  of  years. 

"  Another  educational  institution  of  St.  Petersburg  is  the  School  of 
Mines,  which  is  supported  by  the  Government  and  has  about  three  hun- 
dred students.  Its  collection  of  minerals  is  said  to  be  the  finest  in  the 
world.  There  are  single  nuggets  of  sold  worth  thousands  of  dollars, 
great  masses  of  solid  silver,  platinum,  copper,  and  other  metals,  together 
with  topaz,  beryl,  aquamarine,  quartz,  and  other  crystals  in  great  variety 
and  of  unusual  size  and  beauty.  One  crystal  of  beryl  weighs  five  pounds 
and  is  valued  at  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 


158 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


I 


"In  the  lialls  devoted  to  instruction  there  are  models  of  mines,  with 
the  veins  of  ore,  and  the  machinery  for  working  them ;  the  workmen  are 
represented  by  little  figures  like  dolls,  and  the  whole  is  admirably  exe- 
cuted. After  looking  at  these  models  we  were  taken  to  the  garden,  where 
there  is  a  section  of  a  mine,  through  which  we  were  guided  by  means  of 
candles  and  torches.  It  required  very  little  imagination  for  us  to  believe 
we  were  actually  in  a  mine  far  below  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  that  the 

veins  of  ore  were  real  rather  than 
fictitious.     It  must  be  of  great  ad- 
vantage for  the  education  of  the 
,.....;■  ■    -v  students,  and  certainly  we  found  it 

very  instructive  in  the  little  time 
we  were  in  it. 

"  What  would  you  say  if  I  told 
you  that  the  richest  public  library 
of  Europe  is  in  St.  Petersburg '. 
"Well,  the  Imperial  Library  may 
not  be  superior  to  all  others,  but 
those  who  ought  to  know  say  it  is 
not  inferior  in  any  respect.  It 
occupies  a  very  large  building  on 
the  Nevsky  Prospect,  and  is  open 
to  the  public  like  the  great  libraries 
of  London,  Paris,  Vienna,  and  oth- 
er cities.  The  custodian  who  ac- 
companied us  through  the  building 
said  it  cpntained  nearly  a  million 
printed  volumes,  in  all  the  lan- 
guages of  the  world,  and  about 
thirty  thousand  manuscripts,  some 
of  them  very  old. 

"The  foundation  of  this  im- 
mense library  was  one  of  the  spoils 
It  belonged   to   Count   Zalewski,  a 


ONE   OF   THE   PROFESSORS. 


of  war  between  Russia  and  Poland. 


Polish  bishop,  and  contained  three  hundred  thousand  volumes.  After  the 
capture  of  AVarsaw,  in  1706,  the  library  was  removed  to  St.  Petersburg, 
and  since  that  time  yearly  additions  have  been  made,  until  it  has  reached 
its  present  condition.  Among  other  things  there  is  a  collection  of  books 
relating  to  Russia  in  other  languages  than  Russian.  They  number  forty 
thousand,  and  cover  all  dates  from  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing 


THE   IMPERIAL  LIBRARY. 


159 


clown  to  the  present  time.  Then  there  are  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
books  in  the  Russian  language,  beginning  with  a  volume  of  the  '  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,'  printed  at  Moscow  in  1538. 

"  There  is  a  prayer-book  which  belonged  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and 
which  contains  many  notes  in  her  handwriting.  There  are  autographs  of 
kings,  queens,  emperors,  princes,  and  other  persons  of  blue  blood — so  many 
that  I  can't  begin  to  enumerate  them.  In  fact  there  are  so  many  things 
here  that  one  might  spend  weeks  in  the  library,  and  find  something  new 
and  interesting  every  few  minutes.  The  reading-room  is  well  arranged, 
and  has  all  the  leading  papers  of  Europe.  To  show  its  growth  in  popu- 
larity, let  me  say  that  it  was  visited  by  twenty  thousand  persons  in  1S54, 
and  by  seventy-three  thousand  in  1S64.  In  more  recent  times  as  many 
as  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons  have  visited  the  reading-room 
in  a  single  year. 

"Well,  we  have  had  enough  for  one  day  of  schools,  libraries,  museums, 
and  the  like — so  many  of  them  that  our  heads  are  fairly  swimming.     Let 
us  go  home  and  think  over  what  we  have 
seen  ;  if  we  remember  a  tenth  part  of  it 
we  shall  be  fortunate." 

Naturally  the  conversation,  after  their 
return,  related  to  what  they  had  seen  ;  and 
in  this  connection  the  Doctor  gave  the 
j'ouths  some  interesting  information. 

"  The  university  we  have  seen  to-day," 
said  he,  "  is  not  by  any  means  the  oldest 
in  Russia,  nor  is  it  the  largest.  The  hon- 
or of  age  and  extent  belongs  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Moscow,  which  was  founded  in 
1755,  while  that  of  St.  Petersburg  was 
founded  in  1818.  The  Moscow  Univer- 
sity has  one  thousand  eight  hundred  stu- 
dents, and  seventy -two  professors  and 
lecturers,  and  there  are  one  hundred  and 
fifty    thousand    volumes    in    its    library. 

The  Government  gives  about  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually  in 
aid  of  the  Moscow  University,  and  many  of  Russia's  most  celebrated  men 
have  been  educated  there. 

"  The  oldest  university  in  the/Empire  was  at  Abo,  in  Finland,  but  the 
buildings  were  destroyed  in  a  great  fire  in  1S27,  and  afterwards  the  uni- 
versity was  established  at  Helsingfors.     It  was  originally  founded  in  1630, 


DESCENDING 


160 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN'   EMPIRE. 


GALLERIES    IN    A    MINE. 


eleven  years  before  printing  was  introduced  into  Finland.  Anciently 
there  were  some  curious  customs  connected  with  the  reception  of  a  stu- 
dent at  the  University  of  Abo.  He  was  required  to  prostrate  himself  on 
the  floor  in  front  of  one  of  the  professors,  who  gave  him  a  certain  num- 
ber of  blows  with  a  stick.  The  blows  were  more  imaginary  than  real,  and 
after  they  were  given  the  student  was  ordered  to  rise,  and  to  so  conduct 
himself  in  future  that  he  would  never  need  a  repetition  of  the  indignity. 

"  The  other  universities  of  Russia  are  about  like  that  of  St.  Petersburg, 
and  do  not  need  a  special  description.  In  all  of  them  there  is  a  depart- 
ment of  study  for  those  who  wish  to  enter  the  service  of  the  Church.  At 
Dorpat  there  is  a  course  of  study  for  those  of  the  Lutheran  faith,  and  at 
Kazan,  which   has  a  considerable  population  of  Tartars.  Moslem  students 


TKEATMENT   OF  RELIGIOUS   DISSENTERS. 


161 


are  admitted,  and  no  interference  is  made  with  their  religious  belief.  Some 
of  the  professors  of  the  Oriental  languages  are  Tartars,  and  I  have  been 
told  that  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  university  is  fitted  up  as  a  mosque. 

"This  is  a  good  jiiaee  to  say,"  continued  the  Doctor, "  that  while  the 
Russian  Government  makes  an  earnest  effort  to  convert  all  its  subjects  to 
the  faith  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,  it  rarely  allows  that  effort  to  take 
the  form  of  oppression.  Sometimes  it  happens  that  an  over-zealous  priest 
goes  beyond  the  limit ;  but  as  soon  as  his  conduct  is  known  to  the  proper 


IN    THE    LIBKAKT. 


authorities  he  is  reprimanded,  and  replaced  by  one  who  is  more  cautious. 
The  Polish  exiles  in  Siberia  are  nearly  all  Catholics;  the  Government 
builds  churches  for  them,  and  allows  their  priests  (generally  exiles  like 
their  co-religionists)  to  travel  from  place  to  place  in  the  performance  of 
their  religious  duties ;  and  as  long  as  they  do  not  join  in  any  political 
plots,  or  make  other  trouble  for  the  authorities,  they  are  allowed  the  great- 
est freedom.  Among  the  peasant  inhabitants  of  Siberia  a  Catholic  church 
is  called  'Polish,'  while  a  Lutheran  one  is  known  as  'German.' 

"The  Moslem  and  Pagan  inhabitants  of  Asiatic  Russia  have  the  most 

11 


162 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


complete  religious  freedom ;  but  sometimes,  in  their  zeal  to  be  on  o-ood 
terms  with  their  rulers,  they  adopt  the  new  religion  without  laying  aside 
the  old.  I  have  heard  of  the  chief  of  a  tribe  of  Yakouts,  a  savage  and 
idolatrous  people  in  Xorthern  Siberia,  who  joined  the  Russian  Church 
and  was  baptized.  He  attended  faithfully  to  all  its  observances,  and  at 
the  same  time  did  not  neglect  anything  pertaining  to  his  old  belief. 
When  about  to  make  a  journey,  or  to  undertake  any  other  enterprise,  he 


A    COLLEGE    DOUMITOltY. 


offered  prayers  in  the  church,  and  then  summoned  the  shaman,or  Pagan 
priest  of  his  tribe,  to  perform  incantations  and  bribe  the  evil  spirits  not 
to  molest  him.  On  being  cpiestioned  as  to  his  action,  he  said  he  was  not 
certain  which  belief  was  the  right  one,  and  he  wanted  to  make  sure  by 
professing  both.'1 

One  of  the  youths  asked  the  Doctor  about  the  treatment  of  the  Jews 
in  Russia.  He  had  read  that  they  were  greatly  oppressed  in  some  parts 
of  the  Empire,  and  that  many  of  them  had  been  killed  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  they  were  Jews. 

"That  is  quite  true,"  the  Doctor  answered;  "but  the  outrages  were 
the  work  of  excited  mobs,  rather  than  acts  authorized  by  the  Govern- 
ment. There  is  much  fanaticism  aniong  the  lower  orders  of  Russians, 
and  they  were  roused  to  what  they  did  by  stories  which  the  priests  had 


ISRAELITES  AND  THEIR  TREATMENT. 


1G3 


circulated.  In  some  of  the  riots  the  police  and  soldiers  are  accused  of 
making  no  effort  to  restrain  the  mob ;  and  as  they  and  the  rioters  are  of 
the  same  religion,  there  is  doubtless  good  ground  for  the  accusation. 

"  The  Jews  were  first  admitted  to  Russia  by  Peter  the  Great,  but  they 
were  expelled  by  his  daughter,  the  Empress  Elizabeth.     They  were  read 


JEWISH    BURIAL-GROUND. 


mitted  by  Catherine  II.,  and  the  privileges  she  had  given  them  were  in- 
creased by  Alexander  I.,  who,  in  1S08  and  1S09,  issued  decrees  giving  them 
full  liberty  of  trade  and  commerce.  The  grant  was  revoked  by  Nicholas 
I.,  and  during  his  time  the  Jews  were  subjected  to  much  oppression. 
Alexander  II.  came  to  their  relief,  and  restored  some  of  their  privileges. 
During  and  since  his  reign  they  have  been  fairly  treated  in  matters  of 
trade,  but  have  been  kept  down  in  other  ways.  Only  a  certain  number 
are  allowed  to  practise  medicine  or  keep  drug-stores,  and  only  a  specified 
proportion  of  Jewish  students  is  allowed  at  the  schools  and  colleges. 

"A  great  deal  of  the  trade  of  the  country  is  in  their  hands,  and  they 
are  noted,  as  eveiywhere  else  in  the  world,  for  their  industry  and  frugali- 
ty.    They  do  not  meddle  with  the  politics  of  Russia,  and  the  instances  are 


164 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


exceedingly  rare  of  a  Jew  being  convicted  of  offences  of  a  political  char- 
acter. In  the  army  they  make  the  hest  of  soldiers,  both  for  discipline  anil 
on  the  battle-field,  where  they  are  noted  for  their  bravery.  They  are 
more  numerous  in  Poland  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Empire,  but  there 
is  not  a  province  of  the  whole  country  ruled  by  the  Czar  where  they  can- 
not be  found.  In  their  financial  transactions  they  are  not  behind  their 
brethren  in  other  parts  of  the  world ;  and  wherever  they  are  permitted  to 
engage  in  mechanical  pursuits  they  distance  all  their  competitors." 

Just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  our  friends  took  a  carriage  and  drove  to 
the  Islands  of  the  Neva,  a  favorite  resort  of  the  people  in  the  warm 
months  of  the  year.  Great  num- 
bers of  fashionable  carriages  were 
on  the  road,  troikas  being  more 
numerous  than  any  other  variety. 
A  troihx  is  so  called  from  the  num- 
ber of  its  horses,  rather  than  from 
the  form  of  the  vehicle.  Three 
horses  are  harnessed  abreast,  the 
central  one  having  above  his  head 
the  inevitable  duga,  or  yoke.  In 
a  well  -  trained  troika  the  central 
horse  trots,  while  the  two  others 
gallop,  with  their  heads  turned  out- 
ward. It  is  a  dashing  and  attrac- 
tive team,  and  has  already  made  its 
way  into  other  countries  than  Rus- 
sia. 

The  first  part  of  the  drive  car- 
ried Doctor  Eronson  and  his  young 
companions  through  streets  occu- 
pied by  the  poorer  classes,  but  far- 
ther  on  they  passed  great  numbers 
of  pretty  villas,  which  are  the  summer  homes  of  the  well-to-do  inhabitants 
of  the  city. 

There  is  an  Imperial  villa  on  one  of  the  islands,  and  occasionally  the 
Emperor  gives  a  fete  in  honor  of  some  event,  or  for  the  entertainment  of 
a  foreign  guest.  At  such  times  the  trees  are  rilled  with  Chinese  lanterns, 
and  the  entire  building  is  a  blaze  of  light.  The  people  on  the  line  of  the 
road  follow  the  Imperial  example,  and  illuminate  their  houses,  and  the 
traveller  who  drives  there  might  easily  imagine  that  he  had  dropped  into 


CLOTHKS-DEALKR   OF  MOSCOW, 


A  SUBURBAN  FETE. 


165 


a  section  of  fairy-land.  Doctor  Bronson  told  the  youths  that  he  was  in 
St.  Petersburg  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  of  the  Emperor's  son,  the 
Grand-duke  Vladimir,  and  one  of  the  sights  of  the  occasion  was  the  illu- 
mination of  the  islands. 

"We  rode  through  three  or  four  miles  of  illuminations,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "and  it  seemed  as  though  they  would  never  come  to  an  end. 
At  the  very  entrance  of  the  islands  we  passed  the  summer  residence 
of  Count  Gromoff,  one  of  the  millionaires  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  found 


A    RUSSIAN    TKOIKA. 


it  transformed  into  a  palace  of  fire.  Not  a  tree  or  bush  in  the  large 
garden  in  front  of  the  house  was  without  its  cluster  of  lanterns,  and  one 
of  our  party  remarked  that  it  seemed  as  though  half  the  stars  in  the 
sky  had  fallen  and  found  a  lodgement  there.  In  the  centre  of  the  scene 
were  the  monograms  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  and  of  the  newly- 
wedded  paii',  outlined  in  gas  -  jets ;  above  and  behind  them  was  an 
Imperial  mantle  surmounted  with  a  crown,  and  all  made  with  the 
burning  gas.  Then  the  whole  cottage  was  delineated  with  thousands 
of  lights,  and  we  agreed  that  never  in  our  lives  had  we  seen  such  a 


166 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


beautiful   picture.      Nothing   ever  produced  on  the   stage  of  a  theatre 
could  equal  it. 

"  Occasionally  we  came  near  the  water,  and  wherever  we  did  so  it 
was  covered  with  boats  which  were  as  freely  illuminated  as  the  trees  and 
houses  on  shore.  Boat-houses  and  bath-houses  were  similarly  lighted  up, 
and  as  they  are  numerous  in  this  part  of  the  Neva,  they  formed  an  almost 
continuous  line  along  the  river's  bank.     AVe  were  compelled  to  go  at  a 


A    TILLA    ON    THE    ISLAND. 


walk,  as  the  streets  and  roads  were  crowded  with  vehicles,  and  conse- 
quently our  drive  through  this  city  of  lanterns  occupied  more  than  an 
hour." 

Doctor  Eronson  gave  other  details  of  the  celebration  which  we  have 
not  time  to  repeat,  or,  rather,  they  did  not  find  a  place  in.  the  note-books 
of  the  youths.  The  time  was  passed  pleasantly  in  a  contemplation  of  the 
scenes  by  the  way-side — the  pretty  villas  among  the  trees,  the  carriages 
and  their  occupants,  the  people  on  foot,  or  gathered  in  front  of  the  houses 
or  on  the  verandas,  the  crowds  in  the  cafes  and  restaurants,  which  are  scat- 
tered here  and  there  over  the  islands,  together  with  other  sights  that  met 


AN   INTERESTING   EIDE. 


167 


their  eyes.  There  was  enough  to  make  the  fortune  of  an  artist  if  he  could 
have  placed  all  the  pretty  pictures  of  the  evening  upon  canvas,  and  pre- 
served the  glow  of  the  northern  sky  and  the  twinkle  of  the  lights.  A 
few  houses  were  illuminated,  probably  in  honor  of  a  patron  saint,  or  to 
commemorate  an  event  in  the  history  of  the  owner  of  the  establishment. 
While  looking  at  these  illuminations  Frank  and  Fred  tried  to  imagine 
the  whole  place  lighted  up  as  Doctor  Bronson  had  described  it  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Imperial  fete. 

After  a  ride  of  two  hours  or  more,  the  party  returned  to  the  hotel, 


A    RUSSIAN    FAMILY. 


stopping  a  few  minutes  on  their  way  to  drink  some  tea  at  a  iraMir. 
Frank  ventured  to  air  the  few  Russian  words  he  had  acquired,  and  ac- 
cpiitted  himself  in  fine  style. 


16S  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN"   EMPIRE. 

"  Dai  te  chai,  poshowltz  "  ("  Give  us  tea,  please  "),  he  said,  as  they  took 
their  seats  at  the  table. 

"  Si  chass,"  replied  the  waiter,  and  in  a  few  moments  three  glasses  of 
steaming  tea  were  before  them. 

The  traveller  in  Russia  will  hear  "Si  chass"  pronounced  a  good  many 
times  daily  while  he  is  in  the  Empire.  It  is  like  the  French  waiter's 
"  Tout  de  suite,"  or  the  English  one's  "  Coming,  sir."  Practically  they 
mean  the  same  thing.  The  literal  translation  of  "Si  chass"  is  "This 
hour  ;"  and  perhaps  this  will  account  for  the  fact  that  it  is  often  an  hour 
before  a  simple  demand  can  be  met.  The  waiter  in  Russia  is  no  more 
reliable  than  in  other  countries,  and  not  generally  as  intelligent  as  the 
man  of  the  same  occupation  in  a  French  cafe.  Many  of  the  servants  in 
the  hotels  of  St.  Petersburg  are  French  or  German,  instead  of  Russian ; 
in  the  best  hotels  the  Russian  waiters  almost  invariably  speak  French  or 
German,  in  addition  to  their  own  language. 

\Yhen  the  tea-drinking  was  ended,  Frank  beckoned  the  waiter,  and  ad- 
dressed him  with  the  inquiry,  "  STcolka  stoit "  ("  How  much  does  it  cost  ?"). 
The  waiter  comprehended  at  once,  and,  somewhat  to  Frank's  disappoint- 
ment, placed  on  the  table  a  written  check  on  which  was  noted  in  figures 
the  indebtedness  of  the  party.  The  disappointment  was  not  caused  by 
the  price  of  the  tea  (only  five  copecks  the  glass),  but  by  the  removal  of 
the  opportunity  for  the  young  man  to  make  further  airing  of  his  Russian 
by  displaying  his  knowledge  of  the  spoken  numerals.  The  printed  or 
written  figures  of  the  Russian  language  are  the  same  as  those  of  other 
European  nations,  and  a  stranger  can  get  along  with  them  without  the 
least  trouble,  even  though  he  does  not  know  a  word  of  Russian. 

Near  the  hotel  they  met  a  party  consisting  of  two  policemen  and 
as  many  prisoners.  The  latter  appeared  to  be  under  the  influence  of 
strong  drink,  and  the  policemen  did  not  find  it  easy  to  make  them  move 
along.  They  were  not  quarrelsome  or  obstinate  ;  in  fact,  their  limbs  were 
too  weak  to  allow  them  to  make  any  resistance. 

"  They'll  have  a  job  of  street-sweeping  to-morrow,"  said  the  Doctor, 
"  unless  the  customs  have  changed  since  the  first  time  I  was  here." 

"  Do  they  make  prisoners  sweep  the  streets  2"  one  of  the  youths  asked. 

"They  did  at  that  time,  and  cpiite  likely  they  do  so  now,"  the  Doctor 
answered.  "Every  person  arrested  for  intoxication  was  required  to  sweep 
the  streets  the  next  day  for  a  given  number  of  hours,  and  it  is  a  strange 
sight  when,  as  sometimes  happens,  the  sweepers  are  in  the  garments  in 
which  they  have  been  wending  their  devious  ways  homeward  from  a  ball, 
or  perhaps  from  a  party  where  fancy  costumes  have  been  worn.     Gener- 


BRIBERY  IN  RUSSIA. 


109 


ally  speaking,  you  see  few  besides  the  mujiks,  or  lower  classes,  as  the  well- 
dressed  people,  with  money  enough  in  their  pockets,  can  secure  immunity 
by  means  of  a  bribe.  A  small  donation  to  the  proper  officer  will  set  them 
free;  but  if  they  have  no  money  they  must  do  their  share  of  work  with 
the  rest." 

"I  have  read  that  Russia  is  the  land  of  bribes,"  said  Fred — "bribes 
both  great  and  small." 

"  It  certainly  has  that  reputation,"  was  the  reply, "  and  doubtless  not 


Cn.rMT    STREET-SWEEPERS. 


without  justice.     The  pay  of  the  officials  is  very  small,  quite  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  expense  of  living,  and  the  temptation  is  certainly  great.     A 


170 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


Russian  once  said  to  me  that  an  official  must  steal  in  order  to  make  an 
honest  living ;  he  did  not  mean  it  as  a  joke,  but  in  sober  earnest,  though 
his  language  did  not  exactly  express  his  meaning.  He  wanted  to  say  that 
a  man  must  accept  pay  for  showing  zeal  in  the  interest  of  any  one  whose 
affairs  passed  through  his  hands,  and  unless  he  did  so  he  could  not  prop- 
erly support  himself  and  family. 

"There  is  a  story  of  a  German  savant  who  was  intimate  with  the  Em- 
peror Nicholas.     The  latter  once  asked  him  to  point  out  any  defects  in 

the  system  of  government,  and  the 
savant  immediately  suggested  the 
universal  system  of  bribery,  which 
ought  to  be  stopped.  The  Emperor 
shook  his  head,  and  said  it  was  im- 
possible to  put  an  end  to  an  evil 
which  was  so  widely  spread. 

"'But  your  Majesty  could   issue 
an  Imperial  decree  against  bribery,' 
,']';,,  ,;„-     .   ;     ,  the  savant  replied,  '  and  that  would 

m  '    '■'      i     I      prevent  it.' 

"'But  I  would  have  to  begin,* 
said  the  Emperor,  'by  bribing  my 
Prime-minister  to  publish  the  decree, 
and  then  I  would  have  to  bribe  ev- 
erybody else  to  stop  taking  bribes.' 
"I  will  tell  you,*'  the  Doctor  continued, "  what  I  have  been  told  by 
Russians ;  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  correctness  of  what  they  say,  but  have 
no  doubt  of  their  veracity.  While  I  have  had  no  business  transactions 
that  involved  the  payment  of  money  to  officials,  I  have  some  friends 
whose  negotiations  were  altogether  stopped,  as  they  believe,  by  the  fact 
that  they  would  not  give  money  to  persons  of  influence. 

" '  If  you  have  dealings  with  the  Government,'  so  the  Russians  have 
told  me,  'you  must  pay  something  to  each  and  every  man  who  has  power 
to  expedite  or  hinder  your  business.  If  you  do  not  pay  you  will  not  pros- 
per, and  may  be  certain  that  your  proposals  will  be  rejected.  But  you 
should  not  offer  the  money  directly  to  the  official,  as  that  would  give 
great  offence.' 

"  The  cpiestion  arises,  '  What  is  the  polite  and  proper  way  of  doing 
such  nefarious  work  V 

" '  The  usual  way  is  to  make  up  your  mind  what  you  can  afford  to  pay, 
and  then  put  the  money  in  a  cigar-case  along  with  two  or  three  cigars. 


A    BUSINESS    TRANSACTION. 


REFORMS  OF  ALEXANDER  II. 


171 


Having  stated  the  business,  you  invite  the  man  to  smoke  (everybody 
smokes  in  Russia),  and  then  you  hand  him  the  cigar-case  and  turn  your 
back  to  the  window,  or  look  intently  at  something  on  the  table.  He 
helps  himself  to  a  cigar,  and  also  to  the  money,  and  then  the  affair  goes 
on  easily.' " 

"  What  a  rascally  business !"  exclaimed  both  the  youths  in  a  breath. 
Doctor  Bronson  fully  echoed  their  sentiment,  and  said  he  earnestly  hoped 
the  condition  of  things  was  not  as  bad  as  it  is  portrayed.  "  Alexander  II. 
made  a  considerable  improvement  in  many  things  during  his  reign,"  the 
Doctor  continued,  "  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  he  reformed  the  official  sys- 
tem of  the  Empire  in  this  particular  feature." 


PETER    THE    GREAT    DRESSED    FOR    BATTLE. 


172  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

STUDIES  OF  ST.  PETERSBURG.— MUJIKS.—"  THE  IMPERIAL  NOSEGAY."— A  SHORT 
HISTORY  OF  RUSSIAN"  SERFDOM.— ITS  ORIGIN",  GROWTH,  AND  ABUSES.— EMANCI- 
PATION OF  THE  SERFS.— PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEASANT  CLASS.— SEE- 
ING THE  EMPEROR.— HOW  THE  CZAR  APPEARS  IN"  PUBLIC— PUBLIC  AND  SE- 
CRET POLICE. —  THEIR  EXTRAORDINARY  POWERS.  —  ANECDOTES  OF  POLICE 
SEVERITY.— RUSSIAN  COURTS  OF  LAW. 

FOR  the  remainder  of  their  stay  in  the  capital  Doctor  Bronson  and  the 
youths  were  more  leisurely  in  their  movements  than  during  the  first 
few  days.  They  dismissed  the  guide,  as  they  felt  that  the}*  could  go 
around  without  his  aid,  though  they  occasionally  re-engaged  him  for  spe- 
cial trips  when  they  thought  their  inexperience  would  be  a  liar  to  their 
progress. 

In  thus  acting  they  followed  out  a  plan  adopted  long  before.  On  ar- 
riving in  a  strange  city  where  time  was  limited,  they  engaged  a  guide,  in 
order  that  they  might  "do"  the  stock  sights  of  the  place  as  quickly  as 
possible.  If  they  were  to  remain  for  some  time  they  employed  him  dur- 
ing the  first  two  or  three  days,  and  afterwards  shifted  for  themselves. 
This  is  an  excellent  system,  and  is  recommended  to  all  readers  of  this 
volume  who  may  have  occasion  to  travel  in  foreign  lands. 

Having  familiarized  themselves  with  St.  Petersburg,  our  friends  usu- 
ally spent  the  forenoon  of  each  day  at  the  hotel,  and  the  afternoon  and 
part  of  the  evening  in  going  about  the  streets,  making  calls,  and  otherwise 
improving  their  opportunities.  The  forenoon  was  by  no  means  an  idle 
time.  Doctor  Bronson  was  bus}'  with  his  letters  and  other  matters,  while 
the  youths  were  engaged  in  writing  up  their  journals,  preparing  the  his- 
tories which  have  been  mentioned  elsewhere,  and  making  various  notes 
and  observations  concerning  what  they  saw  or  learned.  In  this  way  they 
accumulated  much  valuable  material,  and  we  are  specially  fortunate  in  be- 
ing permitted  to  copy  at  will  from  what  they  wrote. 

'•"We  have  found  a  great  deal  to  interest  us,"  said  Frank  in  his  jour- 
nal, when  he  sat  down  to  make  a  general  commentary  on  what  they  had 
seen,  "  and  I  hardly  know  where  to  begin.     Of  course  we  have  been  much 


NOTES  ON  THE   ARMY.  173 

impressed  with  the  great  number  and  variety  of  the  uniforms  of  the  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  of  the  army ;  and  though  we  have  tried  hard  to  recog- 
nize the  different  arms  of  the  service  at  sight,  we  have  not  always  suc- 
ceeded. We  wonder  how  the  Emperor  himself  can  know  them  all,  but  of 
course  he  must. 

"  We  have  looked  for  '  The  Imperial  Nosegay '  which  one  traveller  de- 
scribes, but  have  failed  thus  far  to  find  it.  The  story  goes  that  one  of  the 
Emperors  had  a  regiment  composed  of  men  whose  noses  were  turned  up 


AN    IMPERIAL    NOSEGAY. 


at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees ;  whenever  a  man  was  found  anywhere 
in  the  Empire  with  that  particular  kind  of  nose  he  was  at  once  drafted 
into  the  regiment.     A  good  many  of  the  peasants  have  the  nose  inclined 


174 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


very  much  in  the  air,  hut  facial  ornaments  of  the  kind  described  for  the 
famous  regiment  are  not  strictly  the  fashion. 

"Fred  thinks  a  regiment  composed  in  this  way  ought  to  be  good  sol- 
diers, as  they  would  be  able  to  smell  the  smoke  of  battle  a  long  way  off, 
and  before  other  regiments  would  be  aware  of  it.  Certainly  they  ought 
to  breathe  easily,  and  this  ability  was  considered  of  great  importance  by 
the  first  Napoleon.     '  Other  things  being  equal,'  he  used  to  say, '  I  always 


jmim 


MUJIKS    I'LATING    CARDS. 


choose  an  officer  with  a  large  nose.  His  respiration  is  more  free  than  that 
of  the  small-nosed  man  ;  and  with  good  breathing  powers,  his  mind  is 
clearer  and  his  physical  endurance  greater.'  Perhaps  he  realized  on  his 
retreat  from  Moscow  that  many  of  his  pursuers  were  of  the  kind  he  de- 
scribes. 

"  We  have  been  much  interested  in  the  mujiks,  or  peasants — the  low- 
est class  of  the  population,  and  also  the  largest.  Their  condition  has  im- 
proved greatly  in  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  if  what  we  read  and 


HISTORY  OF  SERFDOM.  175 

bear  is  correct.  We  had  read  of  the  system  of  serfdom  in  Russia  before 
we  came  here,  but  did  not  exactly  understand  it.  Since  our  arrival  in 
St.  Petersburg  we  have  tried  to  find  out  about  the  serfs,  and  here  is  what 
we  have  learned  : 

"  To  begin  at  the  end,  rather  than  at  the  beginning,  there  are  no  longer 
any  serfs  in  Russia,  and  consequently  we  are  talking  about  something  that 
belongs  to  the  past.  Serfdom,  or  slavery,  formerly  existed  throughout  all 
Europe  —  in  England,  France,  Germany,  Spain,  and  other  countries.  It 
has  been  gradually  extinguished,  Russia  being  the  last  Christian  country 
to  maintain  it.  Slavery  still  exists  in  certain  forms  in  Turkey  ;  but  as  the 
Turks  are  Moslems,  and  not  Christians,  I  don't  see  why  we  should  expect 
anything  better  in  that  country. 

"  Serfdom  began  later  in  Russia  than  in  any  other  European  country, 
and  perhaps  that  fact  excuses  the  Russians  for  being  the  last  to  give  it  up. 
Down  to  the  eleventh  century  the  peasant  could  move  about  pretty  much 
as  he  liked.  The  land  was  the  property  of  all,  and  he  could  cultivate  any 
part  of  it  as  long  as  lie  did  not  trespass  upon  any  one  else.  In  many  of 
the  villages  the  land  is  still  held  on  this  communistic  principle,  and  is 
allotted  every  year,  or  every  two  or  three  years,  by  the  elders.  In  some 
communities  the  land  must  be  surrendered  to  the  commune  every  nine 
years,  while  in  others  the  peasant  has  a  life  tenancy,  or  what  is  called  in 
law  a  fee-simple. 

"  I  hear  some  one  ask  how  it  came  about  that  serfdom  was  estab- 
lished. 

"  According  to  our  authorities,  it  came  from  the  state  of  the  country, 
which  was  just  a  little  better  than  a  collection  of  independent  principal- 
ities. The  princes  were  cruel  and  despotic,  and  the  people  turbulent ; 
murders  of  princes  were  very  common ;  the  princes  could  only  protect 
themselves  by  organizing  large  body-guards,  which  gave  each  prince  a 
small  army  of  men  around  him.  In  course  of  time  the  officers  of  these 
body-guards  became  noblemen,  and  received  grants  of  land.  At  first  the 
peasants  could  move  about  on  these  estates  with  perfect  freedom,  but 
during  the  sixteenth  century  they  were  attached  to  the  soil.  In  other 
words,  they  were  to  remain  where  they  were  when  the  decree  was  issued, 
and  whenever  the  land  was  sold  they  were  sold  with  it. 

"  It  is  said  that  the  object  of  this  decree  was  not  so  much  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  land-owners  as  in  that  of  the  Government,  which  was  unable 
to  collect  its  taxes  from  men  who  were  constantly  moving  about.  Where 
the  land  belonged  to  the  Government  and  not  to  individuals,  the  peasants 
living  upon  it  became  serfs  of  the  Crown,  or  Crown  peasants.     Thus  the 


176 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


Russian  serf  might  belong  to  a  prince,  nobleman,  or  other  person,  or  lie 
might  belong  to  the  Government.  Private  estates  were  often  mortgaged 
to  the  Government ;  if  the  mortgage  was  unpaid  and  the  property  for- 
feited, the  serfs  became  Crown  peasants  instead  of  private  ones. 

"  There  was  a  curious  condition  about  serfdom  in  Russia,  that  while 
the  man  and  his  family  belonged  to  the  master,  the  land  which  he  culti- 
vated was  his  own,  or  at  any  rate  could  not  be  taken  from  him.     The 


PEASANT  S   HOUSE    IN    SOUTHERN   RUSSIA. 


serf  owed  a  certain  amount  of  labor  to  his  master  (ordinarily  three  days 
out  of  every  seven),  and  could  not  leave  the  place  without  permission.  A 
serf  might  hire  his  time  from  his  master,  in  the  same  way  that  slaves  used 
to  hire  their  time  in  America;  but  he  was  required  to  return  to  the 
estate  whenever  the  master  told  him  to  do  so.  Many  of  the  mechanics, 
isvoshchiks,  and  others  in  the  large  cities  before  the  emancipation  were 
serfs,  who  came  to  find  employment,  and  regularly  sent  a  part  of  their 
wages  to  their  masters. 

"  Sometimes  the  masters  w.ere  very  severe  upon  the  serfs,  and  treated 
them  outrageously.  A  master  could  send  a  serf  into  exile  in  Siberia  with- 
out giving  any  reason.  The  record  said  he  was  banished  '  by  the  will  of 
his  master,'  and  that  was  all.     A  woman,  a  serf  on  an  estate,  who  had  a 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  SERFS.  177 

fine  voice,  came  to  Moscow,  and  found  a  place  in  the  chorus  at  the  opera- 
house.  She  gradually  rose  to  a  high  position,  and  was  earning  a  large 
salary,  half  of  which  she  sent  to  her  master.  Out  of  caprice  he  ordered 
her  back  to  the  estate,  where  she  resumed  the  drudgery  of  a  peasant  life. 
He  refused  all  offers  of  compensation,  and  said  his  serf  should  do  what 
he  wished. 

"Another  serf  had  established  a  successful  business  in  Moscow,  where 
he  was  employing  two  or  three  hundred  workmen.  The  master  allowed 
him  to  remain  there  for  years,  taking  for  his  compensation  a  large  part  of 
the  serf's  earnings,  and  finally,  in  a  fit  of  anger,  ordered  the  man  home 
again.  The  man  offered  to  pa}'  a  hundred  times  as  much  as  he  could  earn 
on  the  estate,  but  the  master  would  not  listen  to  it,  and  the  business  was 
broken  up  and  ruined. 

"  Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  two  or  three  centuries.  Various 
changes  were  made  in  the  laws,  and  the  condition  of  the  serfs,  especially 
of  those  belonging  to  the  Crown,  was  improved  from  time  to  time.  At 
last,  in  1861,  came  the  decree  of  emancipation  from  the  hands  of  Alex- 
ander II.,  and  the  system  of  serfdom  came  to  an  end. 

"It  was  not,  as  many  people  suppose,  a  system  of  sudden  and  universal 
freedom.  The  emancipation  was  gradual,  as  it  covered  a  period  of  sev- 
eral years,  and  required  a  great  deal  of  negotiation.  The  land-owners 
were  compensated  by  the  Government  for  their  loss ;  the  serfs  received 
grants  of  land,  varying  from  five  to  twenty-five  acres,  with  a  house  and  a 
small  orchard,  and  the  result  was  that  every  agricultural  serf  became  a 
small  land-owner.  Private  or  Government  serfs  were  treated  alike  in  this 
respect,  and  the  condition  of  the  peasant  class  was  greatly  improved. 

"  Since  they  have  been  free  to  go  where  they  like,  the  serfs  have  crowd- 
ed to  the  cities  in  search  of  employment,  and  the  owners  of  factories  and 
shops  say  they  can  now  obtain  laborers  much  easier  than  before.  Manu- 
facturing interests  have  been  materially  advanced  along  with  agriculture, 
and  though  many  persons  feared  the  results  of  the  emancipation,  it  is  now 
difficult  to  find  one  who  would  like  to  have  the  old  state  of  things  restored. 

"  Russian  emancipation  of  the  serfs  and  American  abolition  of  slavery 
came  within  a  short  time  of  each  other.  Both  the  nations  have  been 
greatly  benefited  by  the  result,  and  to-day  an  advocate  of  serfdom  is  as 
rare  in  Russia  as  an  advocate  of  slavery  in  the  United  States." 

Frank  read  to  his  cousin  the  little  essay  we  have  just  quoted ;  then  he 
read  it  to  the  Doctor,  and  asked  whether  it  would  be  well  to  insert  it  in 
his  journal. 

"  By  all  means  do  so,"  the  Doctor  replied.     "  There  are  not  many  peo- 

12 


ITS 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


pie  in  America  who  understand  exactly  what  serfdom  was,  and  your  essay 
will  do  much  to  enlighten  them." 

Accordingly  Frank  carefully  copied  what  he  had  written.  Impressed 
with  Doctor  Branson's  suggestion,  we  have  reproduced  it  here,  in  the  con- 
fidence that  our  youthful  readers  will  find  it  interesting  and  instructive. 

"  You  can  add  to  your  account  of  serfdom,"  said  Doctor  Bronson, 
"  that  when  it  was  established  by  Boris  Godunoff,  in  1601,  it  was  regarded 
by  both  peasant  and  noble  as  a  great  popular  reform,  and  welcomed  with 


PKASANTS     HUTS. 


delight.  His  decree  went  into  force  on  Saint  George's  Day,  in  the  year 
named,  and  its  principal  provision  was  that  every  peasant  in  the  Empire 
should  in  future  till  and  own  forever  the  land  which  he  then  tilled  and 
held.  It  was  an  act  of  great  liberality  on  the  part  of  the  Czar,  for  by  it 
he  gave  up  millions  of  acres  belonging  to  the  Crown  and  made  them  the 
property  of  the  peasants. 

"The  serf  of  the  Crown  was  to  till  the  land,  build  his  house,  pay  bis 
taxes,  and  serve  as  a  soldier  whenever  wanted  ;  the  private  serf  existed 
under  very  nearly  the  same  conditions,  with  the  difference  that  his  life 


SERFS  ON  PRIVATE  ESTATES. 


1T9 


might  be  more  oppressed  under  a  cruel  master,  and  more  free  under  a 
kind  one,  than  that  of  the  serf  of  the  Crown.  This  was  what  happened  in 
many  instances ;  and  as  the  masters  were  more  likely  to  be  cruel  than 


ESTHO.NIAN    PEASANTS. 


kind,  and  their  tendency  was  to  make  as  much  as  possible  out  of  their  pos- 
sessions, the  Crown  serf  was  generally  better  off  than  the  private  one. 

"  In  the  beginning  the  system  was  really  the  reform  which  was  in- 
tended, but  very  soon  it  was  subject  to  many  abuses.    Year  by  year  things 


ISO  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

grew  worse :  owners  violated  the  law  by  selling  serfs  away  from  their  es- 
tates ;  the  masters  exacted  from  their  serfs  every  copeck  they  could  earn, 
flogged  them  if  they  lagged  in  their  labor,  and  often  caused  them  to  be 
severely  punished  or  exiled  on  the  merest  caprice.  Peter  the  Great  in- 
troduced some  changes  with  the  best  intentions,  but  they  only  made  mat- 
ters worse.  He  stopped  the  sale  of  serfs  from  the  estates,  which  was  an 
excellent  step ;  at  the  same  time  he  ordered  that  all  taxes  should  be  col- 
lected in  a  lump  from  the  master,  who  should  have  the  power  in  turn  to 
collect  from  the  serfs.  The  evil  of  this  enactment  was  very  soon  appar- 
ent ;  Peter's  successors  struggled  with  the  problem,  but  none  made  much 
headway  until  Alexander  II.  came  with  his  act  of  emancipation,  which 
you  have  just  mentioned. 

"  There  were  several  conditions  attached  to  the  freedom  of  the  serf 
under  Alexander's  decree,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "  which  are  not  gener- 
ally understood.  To  prevent  the  peasant  resuming  again  the  nomadic  life 
which  serfdom  was  intended  to  suppress,  it  was  ordered  that  no  peasant 
could  leave  his  village  without  surrendering  forever  all  right  to  the  lands, 
and  he  was  also  required  to  be  clear  of  all  claims  for  rent,  taxes,  conscrip- 
tion, private  debts,  and  the  like.  He  was  to  provide  for  the  support  of 
any  members  of  his  family  dependent  upon  him  whom  he  left  behind,  and 
also  present  a  certificate  of  membership  in  another  commune,  or  exhibit 
the  title-deeds  to  a  plot  of  land  of  not  less  than  a  given  area. 

»"  These  requirements  were  found  an  excellent  restriction,  as  under 
them  only  the  thrifty  and  enterprising  serfs  were  able  to  clear  off  all  de- 
mands upon  them  and  pay  the  amount  required  for  entering  another  com- 
munity. Men  of  this  class  found  their  way  to  the  cities  and  larger  towns, 
where  many  of  them  have  risen  in  wealth  and  influence,  while  the  quiet, 
plodding  peasants  who  remained  on  the  estates  and  tilled  their  lands  have 
generally  prospered.  A  gentleman  who  has  studied  this  question  wrote 
recently  as  follows : 

" '  Opposite  and  extreme  opinions  prevail  as  to  the  results  of  emanci- 
pation ;  yet,  on  massing  and  balancing  his  observations  on  the  whole,  a 
stranger  must  perceive  that  under  emancipation  the  peasant  is  better 
dressed,  better  lodged,  and  better  fed ;  that  his  wife  is  healthier,  his  chil- 
dren cleaner,  and  his  homestead  tidier ;  that  he  and  his  belongings  are 
improved  by  the  gift  which  changed  him  from  a  chattel  to  a  man.  He 
builds  his  cabin  of  better  wood,  and  in  the  eastern  provinces,  if  not  in  all, 
you  find  improvements  in  the  walls  and  roof.  He  paints  the  logs,  and  tills 
up  the  cracks  with  plaster,  where  he  formerly  left  them  bare  and  stuffed 
with  moss.     He  sends  his  boys  to  school,  and  goes  himself  more  frequent- 


SEEING   THE   EMPEROR. 


181 


lv  to  church.  *  *  *  The  burgher  class  and  the  merchant  class  have  been 
equally  benefited  by  the  change.  A  good  many  peasants  have  become 
burghers,  and  a  good  many  burghers  merchants.  All  the  domestic  and 
useful  trades  have  been  quickened  into  life.  More  shoes  are  worn,  more 
carts  are  wanted,  more  cabins  are  built.  Hats,  coats,  and  cloaks  are  in 
higher  demand :  the  bakeries  and  breweries  find  more  to  do ;  the  teacher 
gets  more  pupils,  and  the  banker  has  more  customers  on  his  books.'" 

With  a  few  more  words  upon  serfdom  and  its  relation  to  other  forms 
of  slavery,  the  subject  was  dropped,  and  our  friends  went  out  for  a  walk. 


ALEXANDER    II.,    THE    LIBERATOR    OF    THE    SERFS. 


As  they  passed  along  the  Kevski  they  were  suddenly  involved  in  a  crowd, 
and  half  forced  into  the  door  of  a  shop  which  they  had  visited  the  day 
before.  They  were  recognized  by  the  proprietor,  who  invited  them  to 
enter  and  make  themselves  comfortable.  "  The  Emperor  is  coming  in  a 
few  minutes,"  he  explained,  "  and  the  police  are  clearing  the  way  for  him." 


'Free  Russia,"  by  Hepworth  Dixon,  p.  275. 


182 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


One  of  the  youths  asked  if  it  was  always  necessary  to  clear  the  streets 
in  this  way  when  the  Emperor  rode  out. 

"  Not  by  any  means,"  the  shopkeeper  replied,  "  as  he  often  rides  ont  in 
a  drosky,  with  only  a  single  attendant  following  him.  He  goes  at  full 
speed  along  the  street,  and  his  progress  is  so  rapid  that  not  one  person  in 
twenty  can  recognize  him  before  he  gets  ont  of  sight.     If  he  goes  less 


ALEXANDER   III.,   EMPEROR    OK    RUSSIA. 


rapidly  he  is  followed  by  several  officers ;  and  when  he  rides  in  a  carriage 
with  two  or  more  horses,  he  is  accompanied  by  his  body-guard  of  Circas- 
sians, or  by  a  company  or  section  of  Cossacks. 

"Nicholas  and  Alexander  II.  used  to  drive  about  quite  frequently  in  a 
drosky,  which  was  much  like  the  ordinary  ones  on  the  streets,  except  that 
it  was  neater  and  more  costly,  and  drawn  by  the  finest  horse  the  Empire 
could  produce.  Since  the  assassination  of  Alexander  II..  and  the  plots  of 
the  Nihilists  against  the  Imperial  life,  we  rarely  see  the  Emperor  driving 
in  this  way,  as  it  would  afford  too  much  opportunity  for  assassins.  Alex- 
ander III.  generally  rides  in  a  carriage,  accompanied  by  some  of  his  offi- 
cers and  surrounded  by  his  body-guard.     Ah  !  here  they  come.'' 

As  he  spoke  a  squadron  of  cavalry  came  in  sight,  and  soon  passed  the 


CIRCASSIAN  BODY-GUARD   OF  THE   EMPEROR.  183 

shop.  Behind  the  cavalry  was  a  carriage,  drawn  by  two  spirited  horses. 
The  Emperor  occupied  the  rear  seat,  while  two  officers  faced  him  on  the 
front  seat,  and  another  officer,  or  possibly  an  orderly,  was  on  the  box  with 
the  driver.  The  crowd  applauded  as  their  ruler  rode  slowly  by  them, 
and  to  hear  the  plaudits  one  could  readily  believe  that  the  Emperor  is 
thoroughly  beloved  by  his  subjects.  He  acknowledged  the  cheering  by 
occasionally  raising  his  hand  in  a  military  salute.  Frank  thought  he  sa- 
luted in  rather  a  mechanical  way,  from  force  of  long  habit.  The  youths 
said  they  would  have  recognized  him  by  his  portraits,  though  they  were 
hardly  prepared  for  the  care-worn  look  which  was  depicted  on  his  features. 

"  After  all,"  whispered  Frank  to  Fred,  "  one  can't  be  surprised  at  it, 
and  I  don't  know  who  would  want  to  change  places  with  him.  He  must 
live  in  constant  thought  of  assassination,  and  every  step  he  takes  must  be 
carefully  watched  by  those  about  him.  So  many  plots  have  been  made 
against  his  life,  and  so  many  persons  of  importance  have  been  implicated 
in  them,  that  he  cannot  know  how  soon  a  new  one  will  be  formed,  and  can 
never  tell  who  about  him  is  faithful.  '  Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  a 
crown.' " 

Behind  the  carriage  was  a  company  of  body-guards  in  Circassian 
chain  -  armor,  and  with  weapons  that  belonged  apparently  to  a  past  age. 
Fred  eagerly  asked  who  and  what  these  men  were. 

"  They  are  Cherkas.s,  or  Circassians,"  replied  the  shopkeeper,  "  and 
were  formerly  at  war  with  Russia.  You  have  read  of  Schamyl,  the  Cir- 
cassian general,  who  gave  Russia  a  great  deal  of  trouble  for  a  long  time, 
have  you  not  ?" 

"  Certainly,"  Fred  answered,  "  I  was  reading  about  him  only  this  morn- 
ing. He  was  born  about  1797,  and  from  182S  till  1859  he  carried  on  a 
defensive  war  against  the  Russians,  but  was  finally  overpowered  by  great- 
ly superior  numbers.  He  used  to  avoid  regular  battles,  and  caused  a  great 
deal  of  damage  to  the  Russians  by  ambuscades,  surprises,  and  similar 
warfare." 

"  That  was  exactly  the  case,"  said  their  informant,  "  and  the  Russians 
always  acknowledged  that  lie  was  an  accomplished  leader  both  in  a  mili- 
tary and  political  sense.  When  he  surrendered,  in  1S59,  the  Emperor  in- 
vited him  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  gave  him  a  residence  at  Kalooga,  with  a 
handsome  pension.  He  was  made  a  regular  guest  at  court,  was  treated 
with  great  distinction,  and  soon  became  as  ardent  in  the  support  of  Russia 
as  he  had  formerly  been  in  opposing  her.  He  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  Emperor's  body-guard,  which  he  organized  from  the  warriors  that  had 
formerly  served  under  him.     Schamyl  died  in  1871,  but  the  organization 


184 


THE    BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


of  the  guard  was  continued.  It  is  whispered  that  the  Circassians  have 
been  replaced  by  Russians  who  wear  the  old  uniform ;  but  certainly,  to 
all  outward  appearances,  the  guard  remains  the  same.  At  any  rate  it  is 
picturesque,  and  that  is  an  important  consideration." 

The  crowd  that  lined  the  sidewalk  was  kept  well  in  hand  by  the  po- 
lice.    The  shopkeeper  said  that  any  man  who  tried  to  break  through  the 


-;   3 


BATTLE    BETWEEN    RUSSIANS    AND    CIRCASSIANS. 


line  would  be  arrested  at  once ;  and  no  doubt  the  knowledge  of  this  rule 
served  materially  to  preserve  order.  Russian  policemen  are  not  to  be 
trifled  with. 

The  route  that  the  Emperor  is  to  take  when  riding  out  is  never  known 
in  these  latter  days,  through  fear  of  plots  against  his  life.  The  precaution 
is  a  very  proper  one,  but  it  requires  a  large  police  force  to  guard  all  the 


HOW   THE   POLICE   KEEP  ORDER. 


185 


avenues  and  streets  by  which  he  may  pass.  Orders  are  sent  for  the  police 
to  prepare  three  or  four  routes,  one  only  being  traversed,  and  the  direction 
is  not  given  to  the  leader  of  the  escort  until  the  Emperor  is  seated  in  the 
carriage.  Sometimes  none  of  the  routes  which  have  been  guarded  are 
taken,  and  the  Emperor  enjoys  a  ride  with  nothing  but  his  escort  for  his 
protection.  It  is  said  the  Czar  is  averse  to  all  this  precaution,  but  is 
guided  by  the  wishes  of  the  Imperial  Council  and  the  members  of  his 
household. 

Our  friends  thanked  the  shopkeeper  for  his  politeness  and  informa- 
tion, and,  as  the  crowd  had  melted  away,  continued  their  walk.     Frank 


SCHAMYL  S    VILLAGE    IN    THE    CAOCASCS. 


observed  that  the  police  did  not  move  away,  and  this  fact  led  him  to  sur- 
mise that  the  Emperor  intended  returning  by  the  same  route. 

"  Of  course  that  is  quite  possible,"  said  the  Doctor,  in  response  to 
Frank's  suggestion,  "  but  it  is  not  worth  our  while  to  remain  on  the 
chance  of  his  doing  so.  It  is  more  than  likely  he  will  return  to  the  pal- 
ace by  another  road  ;  and  even  if  he  comes  through  the  Nevski  we  could 
see  no  more  than  we  have  seen  already.  Besides,  we  might  arouse  sus- 
picion in  the  minds  of  the  police  by  remaining  long  on  this  spot,  and 
suspicion,  however  groundless,  is  not  desirable.     When  the  Emperor  goes 


186 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


out  the  police  have  orders  to  arrest  every  one  whose  conduct  is  in  the 
least  degree  questionable,  and  so  we  had  better  continue  our  walk." 

They  suited  their  actions  to  the  Doctor's  word,  and  did  not  tarry  on 
the  Nevski.  Very  soon  they  met  another  cortege,  which  they  ascertained 
to  be  the  escort  of  the  Chief  of  Police. 

They  had  a  curiosity  to  see  his  face,  but  were  disappointed,  as  he  was 
closely   surrounded  by  his  officers  and  men.     Doctor  Eronson  remarked 


THK    EMPRESS    MARIE    FEUDOROVNA,    WIFE    OF    ALEXANDER    HI. 


that  the  Chief  of  Police  was  the  most  powerful  man  in  Russia,  next  to 
the  Emperor. 

"  How  is  that  ?"  Fred  asked.  "  I  thought  the  most  powerful  man  next 
to  the  Emperor  was  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies."' 

"  There  is  this  difference,"  the  Doctor  answered,  "  that  the  Chief  of 


RECREATION   OF  RUSSIAN  PEASANTS. 


187 


II    it 


'■»' 


188  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

Police  is  the  only  man  in  Russia  who  lias  the  right  to  go  into  the  Em- 
peror's presence  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night.  Not  even  the  Field- 
marshal-in-chief  of  the  Army  or  the  Grand  Admiral  of  the  Navy  can  do 
that. 

"  The  Ministers  of  War,  Navy,  and  Foreign  Affairs  have  a  right  to  an 
audience  with  the  Emperor  every  da}T,  while  the  Ministers  of  Education, 
Railways  and  Telegraphs,  Finance,  and  other  home  matters,  can  only  see 
him  once  or  twice  a  week.  But  at  any  hour  of  the  day  the  Minister  of 
Police  can  send  his  name,  and  immediately  follows  the  messenger  into  the 
Emperor's  office ;  at  any  hour  of  the  night  he  may  have  the  Emperor 
waked  and  told  that  the  Minister  of  Police  has  an  important  communica- 
tion to  make." 

"Do  you  suppose  that  is  often  done?"  one  of  the  youths  inquired. 

'•  Probably  not  very  often,"  replied  Doctor  Bronson,  "  but  how  fre- 
quently the  outside  public  cannot  possibl}r  know.  In  ordinary  times  it  is 
not  likely  the  minister  would  ever  exercise  his  right,  as  it  is  not  wise  to 
wake  an  emperor  from  a  sound  sleep,  especially  when  you  have  bad  news 
for  him.  But  when  assassins  are  making  plots  all  around  the  capital  and 
palace,  the  Emperor's  safety  may  easily  require  that  he  should  have  a  per- 
sonal warning.  In  such  case  the  Minister  of  Police  would  not  hesitate  to 
perform  his  duty." 

Their  walk  took  them  to  the  Summer  Gardens,  where  they  sat  down  on 
one  of  the  benches  and  watched  the  groups  of  children  and  nurse-maids, 
together  with  other  groups  of  old  and  young  that  comprised  the  visitors 
to  the  place.  As  they  sat  there  the  conversation  recurred  to  their  recent 
topic,  the  police. 

"  The  public  police  is  organized  very  much  like  the  same  service  in 
other  countries.  There  are  some  points  of  difference,  but  they  are  not 
great  enough  to  be  mentioned  at  length.  One  objection  to  the  Russian 
public  police  is  that  in  the  cities  and  large  towns  the  policemen  are  nearly 
all  soldiers  who  have  served  their  time  in  the  army,  and  receive  police 
appointments  as  rewards.  Their  long  service  in  the  army  imbues  them 
with  the  greatest  deference  to  the  uniform  of  an  officer,  no  matter  what  its 
wearer  may  be.  The  result  is  the  policemen  salute  every  officer  that 
passes,  and  thus  their  attention  is  drawn  from  their  duties  ;  furthermore, 
an  officer  can  misbehave  himself  as  much  as  he  pleases,  and  run  very  little 
risk  of  being  arrested  like  an  ordinary  offender." 

"  What  can  you  tell  us  about  the  secret  police  V  one  of  the  youths 
asked. 

"I  can't  tell  you  much  about  it,"  was  the  reply;  "and  if  I  could  it 


THE   SECRET   POLICE. 


189 


would  not  be  a  secret  police.  It  used  to  be  a  saying  that  where  three 
men  were  together  one  was  sure  to  be  a  spy,  and  one  or  both  the  others 
might  be.  The  spies  were  in  all  classes  of  society,  and  paid  by  the  police. 
They  did  not  know  each  other,  and  it  quite  often  happened  that  two  of 
them  would  report  against  each  other,  doubtless  to  the  amusement  of  the 
officials  who  compared  their  documents.  If  common  gossip  is  true,  the 
evil  was  greater  in  the  time  of  Nicholas  than  under  any  other  emperor, 
but  many  people  say  it  is  about  as  bad  at  one  time  as  another. 

"  The  clerk  in  the  hotel,  the  waiter  in  the  restaurant,  the  shopkeeper 
who  was  so   polite   to   us,  the   tailor,  hatter,  boot-maker,  milliner,  or  any 


WHO    IS    THE   SPY  ■ 


other  tradesman,  any  or  all  of  them — women  as  well  as  men  —  may  be 
in  the  employ  of  the  Government,  and  report  your  movements  and 
conversation.  Nobody  knows  who  is  a  spy,  and  nobody  knows  who  is 
not.  Consequently  it  is  an  excellent  rule  in  Russia  never  to  say  any- 
thing in  the  hearing  of  any  one  else  than  ourselves  that  can  be  called 
in  question.  Mind,  I  don't  know  of  my  own  knowledge  that  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  a  secret  police,  nor  that  such  a  person  as  a  police  spy 
exists  in  Russia.      Having  never  said  or  done  anything  to  which  the 


190  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

Emperor  or  his  most  zealous  officer  could  object,  I  have  no  fear  of  being 
interfered  with. 

"Here  are  some  of  the  stories  which  were  current  in  the  time  of 
Nicholas  : 

"  A  retired  officer  of  the  English  army  lived  for  several  years  in  St. 
Petersburg.  His  maimers  were  genial,  and  he  made  many  friends  botli 
among  the  foreigners  living  here  and  those  who  visited  Russia.     He  died 

o  o  o 

suddenly  one  day,  and  one  of  his  countrymen  who  was  present  at  the 
time  took  charge  of  his  effects.  His  papers  revealed  the  fact  that  he  was 
a  spy  of  the  Government,  and  was  specially  employed  to  watch  foreigners. 

"Soon  after  the  Revolution  of  1848  a  party  of  French  gentlemen  in 
St.  Petersburg  met  at  the  house  of  one  of  their  friends.  They  had  songs 
and  speeches,  and  a  pleasant  evening  generally ;  and  as  all  were  intimate, 
and  of  the  same  nationality,  they  were  not  at  all  cautious  about  their  con- 
versation. The  only  servants  present  were  Russians,  and  none  of  them 
was  known  to  understand  French.  Next  morning  the  host  was  summoned 
to  the  Police  Bureau,  where  he  was  politely  received.  The  official  read 
off  the  list  of  persons  present,  and  a  very  accurate  report  of  the  songs, 
toasts,  and  speeches  of  the  evening.  Then  he  asked  the  host  if  the 
account  was  correct.  The  latter  tremblingly  answered  that  it  was,  and 
was  then  told  he  had  been  very  imprudent — an  assertion  he  could  not  well 
deny.  He  was  dismissed  with  a  caution  not  to  repeat  the  imprudence,  and 
you  may  be  sure  he  did  not.  He  never  gave  another  party,  and  never 
could  he  guess  whether  the  spy  was  one  of  his  guests  and  compatriots, 
or  one  of  the  servants  who  understood  French  while  pretending  to  be 
ignorant  of  it. 

"  A  great  reform  has  taken  place,  and  matters  which  were  formerly  in 
the  control  of  the  police  are  now  managed  by  courts  of  law.  Trial  by 
jury  has  been  established,  and  though  there  are  many  hinderances  on 
account  of  the  scarcity  of  lawyers  and  judges  and  the  ignorance  of  jurors, 
the  system  is  working  well.  The  law-schools  are  filled  with  students,  and 
in  a  few  years  the  machinery  of  the  courts  will  not  be  unlike  that  of 
other  lands. 

"  But  the  police  power  is  still  too  great  for  the  safety  of  the  people, 
and  probably  no  persons  are  more  aware  of  it  than  are  the  Emperor  and 
his  advisers.  The  police  can  imprison  or  exile  a  man  for  '  administrative 
purposes  '  without  any  trial  whatever,  and  without  even  letting  him  know 
the  nature  of  his  offence.  The  police  may,  in  certain  cases,  revise  a  sen- 
tence which  has  been  decreed  by  a  court,  and  punish  a  man  who  has  been 
acquitted  after  trial,  but  they  do  not  often  exercise  the  right. 


STORIES   OF   THE   SPY   SYSTEM. 


191 


"  The  author  of  '  Free  Russia'  says  that  while  he  was  staying  at  Arch- 
angel an  actor  and  actress  were  brought  there  one  day  and  set  down  in 
the  public  square,  with  orders  to  take  care  of  themselves,  but  on  no 
account  to  leave  town  without  the  governor's  permission.  They  had  been 
sent  from  the  capital  on  a  mere  order  of  the  police,  without  trial,  without 
even  having  been  heard  in  defence,  and  with  no  knowledge  of  the  offence 
alleged  against  them.  They  had  no  means  of  support,  but  managed  to 
eke  out  an  existence  by  converting  a  barn  into  a  theatre,  and  giving 
performances  that  hardly  rose  to  the  dignity  of  the  name  of  plays. 

"An  agent  of  the  police  bad  driven  up  to  their  doors  and  told  them 
to  get  ready  to  start  for  Archangel  in  three  hours.  That  was  all ;  in 
three  hours  they  were  on  their  way  to  exile. 

"  The  same  writer  said  there  was  also  at  Archangel  a  lady  of  middle 
age  who  had  been  banished  from  St,  Petersburg  on  the  mere  suspicion  that 
she  had  been  concerned  in  advising 
some  of  the  students  at  the  univer- 
sity to  send  an  appeal  to  the  Em- 
peror for  certain  reforms  which 
they  desired.  There  was  no  other 
charge  against  her,  and  those  who 
made  her  acquaintance  at  Arch- 
angel were  impressed  with  her  en- 
tire innocence,  as  she  did  not  pos- 
sess in  any  way  the  qualities  nec- 
essary for  intrigue.  Like  the  actor 
and  actress  just  mentioned,  she  had 
had  no  trial,  and  no  opportunity 
to  be  heard  in  defence. 

"A  young  novelist  named  Gierst 
published  some  stories  which  evi- 
dently gave  offence.  He  was  call- 
ed upon  at  midnight,  and  told  to 
get  ready  to  depart  immediately. 
Away  he  went,  not  knowing  whith- 
er, until  the  horses  stopped  at  the 
town  of  Totma,  six  hundred  miles 
from    St.  Petersburg.       There    he 

was  told  to  stay  until  fresh  orders  came  from  the  Ministry  of  Police. 
None  of  his  friends  knew  where  he  had  gone ;  his  lodgings  were  empty, 
and  all  the  information  that  could  be  obtained  was  from  a  servant  who 


OFFICERS    SITTING    IN    JUDGMENT. 


192 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


had  seen  him  start.  His  letters  were  seized,  the  newspapers  were  for- 
hidden  to  say  anything  about  him,  and  it  was  only  by  a  ruse  that  he  was 
able  to  let  his  friends  know  where  he  was. 

"  Any  number  of  these  incidents  are  narrated,"  the  Doctor  continued, 
"and  they  all  show  the  dangerous  power  that  is  in  the  hands  of  the  po- 
lice. It  is  said  that  it  would  have  been  curtailed  years  ago  but  for  the 
rise  and  spread  of  Nihilism,  which  has  rendered  it  necessary  to  continue 
the  privilege  of  the  police  to  revise  sentences,  or  imprison  and  exile  with- 
out trial,  'for  administrative  purposes.'  Let  its  hope  that  the  better  day 
will  come  very  soon." 

"  I  join  heartily  in  that  hope,"  said  Frank.  Fred  echoed  the  words  of 
his  cousin,  and  they  rose  and  continued  their  promenade. 


RUSSIAN    URAND-DUKE    AND    GRAND-DUCHESS. 


JANUARY   IN   ST.  PETERSBURG.  193 


CHAPTER  X. 

WINTER  IN  RUSSIA.— FASHIONABLE  AND  OTHER  FURS.— SLEIGHS  AND  SLEDGES. 
—NO  SLEIGH-BELLS  IN  RUSSIAN  CITIES.— OFFICIAL  OPENING  OF  THE  NEVA.— 
RUSSIAN  ICE -HILLS.  —  "  BUTTER  -WEEK."  —  KISSING  AT  EASTER.— AN  ACTIVE 
KTSSING-TIME.  —  RUSSIAN  STOVES  AND  BATHS. —EFFECTS  OF  SEVERE  COLD. — 
THE  STORY  OF  THE  FROZEN  NOSE.— HOW  MEN  ARE  FROZEN  TO  DEATH. 

WHILE  greatly  enjoying  their  summer  visit  to  St.  Petersburg,  Frank 
and  Fred  regretted  that  they  did  not  have  the  opportunity  of  see- 
ing the  capital  in  winter.  They  heard  much  about  the  gayety  of  the  win- 
ter season,  and  wondered  if  their  journeyings  would  ever  bring  them  there 
at  the  time  when  the  snow  covered  the  ground  and  the  Neva  was  sealed 
with  ice. 

For  their  consolation  Doctor  Bronson  told  them  of  his  winter  experi- 
ence of  the  city.     His  story  was  about  as  follows : 

"  I  arrived  here  in  the  latter  part  of  January,  when  the  temperature 
was  running  very  low.  The  ordinary  mercury  thermometer,  which  freezes 
at  39°  below  zero,  was  of  no  use,  as  the  mercury  would  be  frozen  solid  al- 
most every  day.  Spirit  thermometers  are  the  only  practicable  ones  for 
northern  Russia,  and  during  my  stay  here  they  marked  —53°  Fahrenheit. 
This  is  an  unusual  and  extreme  figure,  the  mean  winter  temperature  being 
about  18°  above  zero.  The  average  summer  temperature  is  62°,  and  the 
extreme  summer  figure  99°. 

"  Everybody  wears  furs  or  sheepskins  in  winter ;  they  are  donned 
when  the  frosts  come,  and  not  laid  aside  till  the  trees  are  budding.  Furs 
are  for  the  rich,  or  those  who  pretend  to  be  so,  and  sheepskins  for  the 
lower  classes.  Both  kinds  of  garments  are  worn  with  the  fur  or  wool 
inside ;  the  fur  coat  or  cloak  has  a  backing  of  cloth,  while  the  sheepskin 
coat  has  only  the  skin  of  the  animal  without  any  cloth  addition.'' 

One  of  the  boys  asked  what  kinds  of  furs  were  most  in  use. 

''Nearly  everything  that  bears  the  name  of  fur,"  was  the  reply;  "but 
fashion  rules  here  as  everywhere  else,  and  it  often  happens  that  a  fur  will 
be  in  great  demand  at  one  time  and  quite  neglected  a  few  years  later. 
Sable  is  the  most  expensive  fur,  and  a  coat  or  cloak  lined  with  it  is  worth 

13 


194 


THE    BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


all  the  way  from  five  hundred  to  five  thousand  dollars,  depending  upon 
the  excellence  of  the  skins.  Another  fur,  that  of  the  black  fox,  is  still 
more  costly;  but  as  it  is  worn  only  by  the  Imperial  family  and  the  high- 
est nobility,  it  does  not  come  into  our  category. 

"  Coats  lined  with  astrachan  (the  soft  wool  of  very  young  lambs)  are 
fashionable,  and  bring  high  prices.  I  have  known  of  coats  of  this  kind 
selling  for  six  or  eight  hundred  dollars  each.  I  took  to  America  a  cap  of 
astrachan  wool ;  it  cost  me  about  three  dollars,  and  with  my  inexperienced 
eye  I  could  not  distinguish  it  from  one  that  sold  for  ten  times  as  much. 


-  wm 


FDR-BEARING   SEALS. 


My  Russian  friends  could  readily  detect  the  difference;  but  as  I  was  buy- 
ing the  cap  for  American  and  not  for  Russian  use,  I  was  quite  content 
with  my  purchase.'' 

"Why  is  this  fur  or  wool  called  '  astrachan  V  "  one  of  the  youths  asked. 

"  It  comes  here  from  Astrachan,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Volga,"  said  the 
Doctor.  "Its  preparation  is  one  of  the  industries  of  Central  Asia,  for 
which  Astrachan  is  the  great  market.  This  fur  is  black,  and  remarkably 
soft  and  silky.  The  lamb  is  killed  immediately  after  he  sees  the  light, 
and  the  younger  he  is  at  the  time  of  his  death  the  finer  and  more  valuable 
is  the  skin.  Persia  supplies  large  quantities  of  this  fur,  and  it  varies  from 
black  to  gray  or  white. 


FASHIONABLE   FURS   IN   RUSSIA. 


195 


SKA-O'l'TElt. 


"I  mentioned  the  black  fox  as  a  very  costly  fur.  The  Emperor  has  a 
cloak  which  is  valued  at  ten  thousand  dollars;  only  an  emperor  or  some 
one  else  with  plenty  of  money  at  his  command  could  afford  such  a  gar- 
ment.    The  fur  of  the  black  fox  is  rarely  seen  outside  of  Russia,  as  only  a 

small  quantity  of  it  comes  to  mar- 
ket. Plenty  of  counterfeit  fur  of 
this  kind  can  be  found  in  England  ; 
it  is  made  by  dyeing  the  skin  of  the 
common  fox,  and  the  work  is  done 
so  skilfully  as  to  defy  detection  by 
any  one  not  an  expert  in  the  fur 
trade. 

"Sea- otter,  mink,  marten,  bea- 
ver, fur-seal,  lynx,  and  raccoon  are  the  furs  in  general  use  for  lining  gar- 
ments in  Russia.  Otter,  seal,  and  mink  furs  are  expensive,  and  so  is  that 
of  another  animal  I  had  almost  omitted  from  the  list,  the  ermine.  Er- 
mine fur  was  formerly  the  badge  of  royalty,  and  in  some  countries  it 
could  be  worn  only  by  the  members  of  the  Royal  or  Imperial  family,  or 
by  the  judges  in  the  high  courts.  In  England  you  often  hear  the  judges 
spoken  of  as  '  wearers  of  the  ermine ;'  the  fur  has  been  used  for  lining 
the  robes  of  the  judges,  its  snowy  whiteness  being  considered  an  emblem 
of  purity.  The  tip  of  the  tail  of  the  ermine  is  black,  and  in  making 
robes  the  white  surface  is  dotted  at  regular  intervals  with  the  black  tips. 
Where  they  are  not  sufficient  for  the 
purpose,  the  paws  of  the  Astrachan 
lamb  are  used  instead. 

"  The  fur  you  see  most  frequently 
in  Russia  in  the  winter  season  is  that 
of  the  raccoon.  I  bought  a  coat  lined 
with  this  fur  when  I  arrived  in  St. 
Petersburg,  and  paid  the  equivalent  of 
eighty  dollars  for  it.  I  did  not  recog- 
nize the  skin  as  that  of  a  compatriot, 
and  was  only  aware  of  its  origin  when 
informed  by  a  Russian  friend.  A  fur- 
dealer  in  New  York  afterwards  told 

me  that  half  a  million  raccoon -skins  are   sent  annually  to  London,  and 
nearly  all  of  them  find  their  way  to  Russia. 

"  Another  animal    whose  fur  comes  from  America  to  Russia  is  that 
odoriferous  creature,  the  skunk.     A  friend  of  mine  bought  a  coat  of  this 


THE    BKAVEK. 


196 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


THK    EUMISE. 


kind  under  tlie  impression  that  the  fur  grew  on  the  back  of  a  young  hear. 
In  cold  weather,  and  out-of-doors,  it  was  all  right,  and  no  one  could  have 
known  the  difference;  but  when  the  weather  grew  warm,  and  a  thaw 
made  the  atmosphere  moist,  my  friend's  coat  was  not  a  pleasant  article  of 
wear.  I  believe  he  sold  it  to  the  man- 
ager of  a  glue  factory,  whose  nose  had 
lost  its  sensitiveness  through  his  pecul- 
iar occupation. 

"  So  much  for  the  materials,  and 
now  for  the  garment.  A  Russian 
■s/iooba,  or  cloak,  extends  from  the  head 
to  the  heels  of  the  wearer ;  the  sleeves 
cover  the  finger-tips,  or  very  nearly  so, 

and  the  collar,  when  turned  up,  will  completely  encircle  and  conceal  the 
head.  The  head-covering  is  a  cap  of  the  pattern  you  see  often  in  pictures, 
and  once  called  in  America  the  '  pork-pie.'  The  coat  is  excellent  for  rid- 
ing purposes.  One  can  walk  a  short  distance  in  such  a  garment,  but  it 
is  really  inconvenient  for  a  promenade. 

"  But  as  everybody  who  can  afford  to  ride  does  so,  the  awkwardness  of 
the  shooba  is  of  little  consequence.  The  streets  abound  in  sledges,  and 
you  may  be  whisked  here,  there,  and  everywhere  at  a  very  rapid  rate  for 
a  reasonable  price.  The  streets  are  far  gaj'er  in  winter  than  in  summer, 
for  the  reason  that  there  are  so  many  more  vehicles  in  motion,  and  I  know 

of  no  more  active  spectacle  than  the 
Xevski  on  a  clear  day  in  January." 

"  The  bells  on  the  sleighs  must 
make  a  merry  tinkling,"  said  one  of 
the  boys,  with  a  smile. 

"  Quite  wrong,"  said  the  Doctor, 
returning  the  smile,  "as  there  are  no 
bells  at  all." 

"  No  bells  on  the  sleighs !"  was  the 
surprised  reply.  "  Then  the  law  is 
not  like  ours  in  America  ?" 

"  Exactly  the  reverse,"  answered 
the  Doctor.  "  In  the  United  States 
we  require  them,  and  in  Russia  they  forbid  them.  We  argue  that  unless 
bells  are  worn  on  the  horses  the  approach  of  a  sleigh  could  not  be  per- 
ceived ;  the  Russians  argue  that  in  the  confusion  caused  by  the  sound  of 
bells  one  could  not  hear  the  warning  shout  of  the  driver,  and  would  be 


W* 


SOCIAL   LIFE   IN   WINTER.  197 

liable  to  be  run  over.  Both  are  right ;  sleighs  are  not  sufficiently  numer- 
ous with  us  to  cause  confusion,  while  in  Russia  their  great  numbers  would 
certainly  bring  about  the  result  the  Russians  dread. 

"  But  it  is  in  the  cities  and  towns  only,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "  that 
the  bell  is  forbidden.  On  the  country  roads  any  one  travelling  in  a  post- 
carriage  carries  bells  on  the  dxuja — the  yoke  above  the  neck  of  the  shaft- 
horse — but  he  must  remove  them  before  entering  a  town.  Most  of  these 
bells  are  made  at  Valdai,  a  town  on  the  road  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Mos- 
cow, and  the  place  of  their  origin  is  preserved  in  some  of  the  sleighing 
songs  of  the  country. 

"Balls,  parties,  receptions,  dances,  dinners,  theatricals,  operas,  anything 
and  everything  belonging  to  fashionable  life,  can  be  found  in  St.  Peters- 
burg in  winter.  Any  one  with  introductions  can  be  as  gay  as  he  wishes, 
and  it  is  a  wonder  to  a  quiet  and  ease-loving  man  that  the  Russians  can 
survive  this  sort  of  thing  year  after  year.  A  fashionable  Russian  rarely 
gets  to  bed  before  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  morning;  it  is  true  he  may 
sleep  late,  but  if  he  has  any  official  engagements  his  hours  of  slumber  will 
be  few.  A  winter  in  St.  Petersburg  is  a  heavy  drain  on  one's  vital  forces, 
and  also  upon  the  pocket.  Living  is  dear,  and  it  is  well  said  that  this 
city  is  the  most  costly  capital  of  Europe,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Madrid. 

"  The  Neva  freezes  near  the  end  of  October  or  early  in  November, 

and  remains  frozen  until  May.     Nobody  is  allowed  to  venture  on  the  ice 

until  it  has  been  officially  declared  that  the  river  is  frozen  over;  and  in 

the  spring,  when  the  ice  melts,  the  official  declaration  is  necessary  before  a 

single  boat  can  put  out  from  shore,  or  even  be  launched.     When  the  river 

is  opened  there  is  an  elaborate  ceremony,  and  a  part  of  the  performance 

includes  taking  a  glass  of  water  from  the  river  and  presenting  it  to  the 

'         .  .  .  . 

Emperor.     His  Majesty  drinks  the  water  and  fills  the  glass  with  gold  coin. 

It  was  observed  that  the  size  of  the  glass  increased  annually,  until  it  as- 
sumed the  proportions  of  a  respectable  flower-vase.  The  Imperial  stom- 
ach could  not  hold  so  much  water  at  once,  and  the  Imperial  purse  objected 
to  the  price.  A  compromise  was  effected  by  fixing  a  certain  sum  to  be 
paid,  instead  of  filling  the  glass  with  gold. 

"Skating  and  riding  on  the  ice  have  a  prominent  place  in  the  amuse- 
ments of  Russia  in  winter.  Coasting  on  artificial  ice-hills  is  also  a  stand- 
ard sport,  in  which  all  classes  of  people  take  part.  It  is  especially  in  order 
daring  'Butter-week'  and  the  Easter  festivities,  and  is  one  of  the  winter 
sights  of  all  cities  in  the  Empire." 

"  How  do  they  make  these  ice-hills  ?"  Fred  asked. 


198 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


RUSSIAN    ICE-HILLS. 


"A  scaffold  is  raised  to  the  height  of  thirty  or  forty  feet,  the  post, 
beino-  set  in  holes  drilled  in  the  frozen  earth  or  pavement,  and  fixed  m 
their  places  by  pouring  water  around  them.  In  a  few  minutes  the  water 
is  converted  'into  ice  and  the   post  is  immovable.     On   one   side   of  the 


SLIDING   ON   ICE-HILLS. 


199 


scaffold  there  are  steps  for  ascending  it,  and  generally  there  is  a  track  at 
the  side  for  drawing  up  the  sleds.  The  other  side  slopes  off  very  steeply 
at  the  start ;  then  it  becomes  more  gentle,  and  finally  extends  a  consider- 
able distance  on  a  level. 

"  Blocks  of  ice  are  laid  on  the  slope ;  water  is  poured  over  them  to  be 
converted  into  ice  and  make  a  smooth  surface ;  and  when  the  slide  is  com- 
pleted and  opened  it  is  thronged  by  patrons.  It  takes  away  one's  breath 
at  first  when  he  is  pitched  over  the  edge  of  the  slope  and  finds  himself 
rushing  with  a  speed  surpassing  that  of  a  railway -train.  The  impetus 
gained  in  the  first  part  of  the  descent  is  sufficient  to  carry  the  sled  a  long 
distance  on  the  level.  I  tried  the  slide  two  or  three  times,  and  think  if  I 
had  been  ten  or  twenty  years  younger  I  should  have  enjoyed  it  very 
much."  . 

"Where  do  they  put  up  these  ice-hills?"  Frank  inquired. 

"  Several  are  erected  in  Admiralty  Square,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  and  oth- 
ers in  various  other  squares  and  along  the  bank  of  the  river.     They  are 


SOLDIERS    OFF    DUTY — HI  TTKR-WKKK. 


frequently  arranged  so  that  the  level  part  of  the  slide  is  over  the  ice  of 
the  Xeva,  and  care  is  taken  that  the  track  shall  be  smooth  as  glass.  There 
are  usually  two.  of  these  hills  side  by  side,  the  slides  being  in  opposite 
directions. 


200 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE    RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


THE   EASTER    KISS — AGREEABLE. 


"  Those  I  speak  of  are  for  the  general  public.  Smaller  slides  are  in 
the  court -yards  of  private  houses,  and  there  are  imitations  of  them  in 
many  summer-houses,  where  polished  wood  takes  the  place  of  ice.     One 

of  the  slides  in  the  Imperial  pal- 
ace is  of  mahogany,  which  has 
been  polished  till  it  shines  like 
a  finely  finished  bureau  or  ward- 
robe. 

"  The  time  to  see  St.  Peters- 
burg in  all  its  winter  glory  is 
during  ' Maslim/itza?  or  'Butter- 
week,'  which  ushers  in  the  '  Great 
Fast'  preceding  Easter.  The 
whole  population  is  engaged  in 
enjoying  itself.  Bland,  or  pan- 
cakes, are  the  favorite  articles  of 
food,  and  thousands  of  digestions 
are  upset  by  the  enormous  quan- 
tities of  these  things  that  are 
devoured.  They  are  made  of  flour  and  butter,  fried  in  butter,  and  eaten 
with  butter-sauce.  Butter  and  other  fatty  foods  are  in  order  through  the 
week  ;  and  from  a  sanitary  point  of  view  this  great  consumption  of  grease, 
followed  by  seven  weeks  of  fasting,  leads  to  frightful  results.  Statistics 
show  that  the  mortality  rate  is  largely  in- 
creased at  this  time  of  the  year,  and  certainly 
it  is  not  to  lie  wondered  at.  Rich  and  poor 
alike  give  themselves  up  to  butter,  and  the 
only  difference  is  that  the  rich  have  the  best 
qualities  of  the  article,  and  sometimes  a  greater 
quantity. 

"The  rich  people  sometimes  have  hi  inn  I 
parties  during  the  festive  season.  I  once  at- 
tended one  of  these  affairs  at  the  invitation  of 
a  Russian  friend.  When  we  met  in  the  par- 
lors I  was  surprised  that  so  few  were  present, 
as  I  had  dined  there  before  and  knew  he  could 
accommodate  twice  the  number.     But   I  saw 

the  reason  when  the  word  was  given  that  the  pancakes  were  ready  and 
our  host  led  the  way. 

"We  were  not  taken  to  the  dining-room  but  to  the  kitchen,  and  then 


THE    EASTER    KISS — IN   THE    EAMII.V. 


KISSING   AT   EASTER. 


201 


THE    EASTER    KISS — DIFFICULT. 


it  was  explained  that  hllnnl  parties  are  given  in  the  kitchen,  and  no  more 

people  are  invited  than  the  place  can  accommodate.     The  Uinni  are  eaten 

on  the  spot,  as  fast  as  they  are  cooked,  and  it  is  a  prime  object  to  have 

them   hot  from  the  griddle.     We   had  a  very  jolly  time  there,  but  for 

several  days  my  stomach  was  like  an  em- 
bryo Vesuvius  in  consequence  of  making  a 
whole  meal  of  this  rich  food.  Think  of  an 
entire  dinner  of  buckwheat -cakes  or  fried 
'  turnovers,'  the  stuff  that  dreams  are  made 
of." 

One  of  the  boys  wished  to  know  about 
the  Easter  kissing  for  which  Russia  is  fa- 
mous. 

"Well,  it  is  one  of  the  sights  of  Russia, 
with  agreeable  and  disagreeable  features.  It 
is  not  literally  the  case  that  everybody  kisses 
everybody  else,  but  that  statement  is  not  so 
very  far  out  of  the  way  after  all.  I  passed 
through  one  Easter,  and  it  was  quite  enough 

for  a  lifetime.     I  was  kissed  by  men  and  women  almost  innumerable.     If 

the  kissing  could  have  been  confined  to  the  young  and  pretty  women,  or 

even  to  the  comely  ones  of  middle 

or  advanced  life,  I  should  have 

borne  the  infliction  patiently  ;  but 

when  I  was  obliged  to  receive  the 

salutation  froni  men,  of  all  ages 

and  all  conditions  of  cleanliness, 

or  its  reverse,  it  was  too  much  for 

comfort.     All   Russia    kisses    all 

the  rest  of  Russia  at  Easter,  and 

any  foreigner  who  may  be  here 

at  the  time  is  treated  like  a  sub- 
ject of  the  Czar.     The  old  adage 

that  'Kissing  goes  by  favor'  is 

entirely  set  aside ;  custom  makes 

it  well-nigh  universal." 

"When  does  the  ceremony  begin,  and  how  long  is  it  kept  up?"  said 

one  of  the  youths. 

"  It  begins  at  midnight,  as  the  clock  sounds  the  hour  of  twelve  and 

ushers  in  the  Easter  dav.     A  little  before  midnight  the  whole  of  Russia 


THE    EASTER    KISS — DISAGREEABLE. 


202  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

goes  to  church.  The  Emperor  and  all  his  family  assemble  in  the  Imperial 
chapel,  and  every  church  and  chapel  in  the  Empire  is  rilled.  As  the  clock 
begins  striking  the  hour  the  whole  congregation  is  wrapped  in  silence;  at 
the  last  stroke  of  the  bell  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary  of  the  church  are 
thrown  open  and  the  waiting  priests  come  forth. 

"  •  Christits  voskress '  (•  Christ  is  risen  ')  is  intoned  by  the  priests,  and  the 
song  is  taken  up  by  the  choir,  to  be  followed  by  the  response,  '  Christ  ux 
voshress  ihs  mortvuV  ('Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead").  The  priests  walk 
through  the  congregation  repeating  the  words  and  swinging  their  censers. 

"The  beginning  of  the  chant  is  the  signal  for  the  kissing.  Friends 
and  acquaintances  are  generally  standing  together,  and  each  kisses  every 
other  one  of  the  group.  Those  who  have  the  slightest  possible  acquaint- 
ance kiss  each  other,  and  at  each  and  every  kiss  the  two  phrases  I  ha\e 
given  are  repeated.  At  the  same  instant  that  the  signal  is  given  by  the 
opening  of  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary,  the  churches  are  illuminated  both 
inside  and  out,  eveiy  bell  is  rung,  and  the  pealing  of  cannon  and  the  flash- 
ing of  rockets  show  how  much  the  festival  is  a  national  one. 

"  The  kissing  is  continued  through  the  night  and  all  the  next  day,  and 
even  for  several  days  all  relatives,  friends,  and  acquaintances  salute  each 
other  with  Christus  voshress  and  a  kiss  ;  every  isvoshchik,  porter,  dustman 
— in  fact  every  peasant  of  every  name  and  kind  kisses  every  other  peasant 
he  has  ever  known,  and  a  great  many  whom  he  never  saw  before.  Clerks 
in  the  public  offices  kiss  each  other,  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army  salute 
in  the  same  way,  the  general  kissing  all  his  subordinate  officers,  the  colonel 
of  a  regiment  kissing  all  the  officers  beneath  him.  and  also  a  deputation  of 
the  soldiers,  while  the  captain  and  lieutenants  kiss  all  the  soldiers  of  their 
companies.  The  same  order  is  observed  in  the  navy  and  in  all  the  official 
ranks,  and  the  number  of  osculations  in  the  Empire  in  that  one  day  of  the 
year  is  quite  beyond  the  power  of  calculation." 

"Are  the  Emperor  and  Empress  subject  to  the  same  rule  as  other  peo- 
ple '."  was  the  very  natural  inquiry  which  followed. 

"Certainly."  was  the  reply:  "the  ceremony  is  closely  connected  with 
the  religion  of  the  country,  and  as  the  Emperor  is  the  head  of  the  Church, 
he  could  not  possibly  secure  exemption  from  this  ancient  custom.  The 
Emperor  and  Empress  must  salute  all  the  members  of  the  Imperial  family 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  also  all  the  court  officials  and  attendants;  and 
after  this  ceremony  is  over  the  Empress  must  give  her  hand  to  be  kissed 
by  every  officer  above  the  rank  of  colonel  who  has  the  right  of  attendance 
at  court.  The  Emperor  kisses  all  his  officers  on  parade,  and  also  a  dele- 
gation of  soldiers  selected  as  representatives  of  the  army.     The  military 


THE   FAST   BEFORE   EASTER. 


203 


parades  for  the  Imperial  kiss  last  several  days,  as  it  would  be  impossible 
to  go  through  the  ceremonial  with  all  the  regiments  around  St.  Petersburg 
in  a  single  revolution  of  the  earth. 

"Easter  makes  an  end  of  the  long  fast  of  seven  weeks,  which  has  been 
kept  by  all  faithful  members  of  the  Church  with  great  rigor.  The  lower 
classes  refrain  even  from  fish  during  the  first  and  last  weeks  of  the  fast, 
and  also  on  "Wednesdays  and  Fridays  of  the  other  five.     It  is  no  wonder 


THE    EMPKROK  S    KASTF.R    KISS. 


204  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IX   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

that  they  precede  it  with  the  festivities  of  '  Cutter- week,'  so  that  the 
recollection  of  the  good  time  they  have  had  will  be  a  consolation  during 
the  fast.     With  the  kissing  of  Easter  begins  a  period  of  feasting,  both  in 

eating  and  drinking,  which 
is  by  no  means  famous  for 
its  moderation.  Many  of 
the  mujiks  are  sadly  intox- 
icated before  the  setting  of 
the  sun  at  Easter,  and  they 
are  by  no  means  the  only 
persons  who  exhibit  the  ef- 
fects of  too  liberal  pota- 
tions." 

From  Easter  and  its  kiss- 
es the  conversation  wander- 
ed to  other  subjects.  Fred 
asked  how  the  houses  were 
kept  warm  in  the  intense 
cold  of  a  Russian  winter. 

"  Some  of  the  more 
modern  buildings  of  St.  Pe- 
tersburg and  Moscow,"  said 
the  Doctor,  "  are  warmed  by 
furnaces  not  unlike  those 
used  in  America.  Cut  the 
true  peitchka,  or  Russian 
stove,  is  of  brick,  and  is 
generally  built  so  as  to  form 
the  common  centre  of  three 
or  four  rooms  and  warm 
them  all  at  once.  In  the 
huts  of  the  peasants  the  top 
of  the  stove  is  utilized  as  a 
bed,  and  it  is  usually  large 
enough  for  three  or  four 
persons  to  lie  there  with 
comparative  comfort." 
"Do  they  keep  the  tire  going  there  all  the  time  during  the  winter?" 
"jSTot  exactly,"  was  the  reply,  "  though  in  a  certain  sense  they  do. 
Every  morning  the  tire  is  kindled  in  the  stove,  which  resembles  an  enor 


PEASANT    GIRL    IN    WINTER    DRESS. 


RUSSIAN  STOVES.  205 

motis  oven,  and  is  kept  burning  for  several  hours.  "When  it  lias  burned 
down  to  a  bed  of  coals,  so  that  no  more  carbonic  gas  can  be  evolved,  the 
chimney  is  closed,  and  port -holes  near  the  top  of  the  stove  are  opened 
into  the  room  or  rooms.  The  hot  air  comes  out  and  warms  the  apart- 
ments, and  there  is  enough  of  it  to  keep  a  good  heat  for  twelve  or  fifteen 
hours. 

'•The  port-holes  must  be  carefully  closed  during  the  combustion  of 
the  wood,  in  order  to  prevent  the  escape  of  poisonous  gas.  Sometimes 
they  are  opened  when  there  is  still  some  flame  burning.  A  Russian  will 
instantly  detect  the  presence  of  this  gas,  and  open  a  window  or  rush  into 
the  open  air,  but  strangers,  in  their  ignorance,  are  occasionally  overpow- 
ered by  it. 

''Several  instances  are  on  record  of  strangers  losing  their  lives  by 
ougar,  as  the  Russians  call  this  poisonous  gas  from  the  stove.  Among 
them,  some  twenty  years  ago,  was  the  son  of  a  Persian  ambassador,  who 
was  smothered  in  one  of  the  principal  hotels  of  Moscow.  When  a  person 
is  overpowered  by  ougar,  and  found  insensible,  he  is  carried  out-of-doors 
and  rolled  in  the  snow — a  severe  but  efficacious  remedy. 

"  Then,  too,  the  cold  is  excluded  by  means  of  double  or  triple  windows, 
little  cones  of  paper  tilled  with  salt  being  placed  between  the  windows  to 
absorb  whatever  moisture  collects  there.  Russian  houses  are  very  poorly 
ventilated,  and  frequently,  on  entering  from  the  open  air,  you  are  almost 
stifled  by  the  foul  atmosphere  that  seems  to  strike  you  in  the  face  like  a 
pugilist. 

"It  is  probably  the  condition  of  the  air  in  which  they  live,  combined 
with  late  hours  and  the  exactions  of  fashionable  life,  that  gives  such  an 
aspect  of  paleness  to  nearly  all  the  Russian  women  above  the  peasant 
class.  A  fresh,  ruddy  complexion,  such  as  one  sees  almost  universally 
throughout  England,  and  quite  generally  in  America,  is  almost  unknown 
among  Russian  ladies.  If  the  Emperor  would  issue  a  decree  requiring  the 
houses  of  the  Empire  to  be  properly  ventilated,  he  would  confer  a  blessing 
on  his  faithful  subjects,  and  save  or  prolong  thousands  of  lives. 

"  The  peasants  sometimes  use  their  stoves  for  baths,"  said  the  Doctor, 
to  the  great  surprise  of  his  youthful  auditors. 

"  How  is  that  possible  ?"  one  of  them  asked.  "  Do  they  fill  the  stove 
with  water  the  same  as  they  would  a  bath-tub  V 

"Xot  exactly,"  the  Doctor  answered,  smilingly.  "You  know  the 
character  of  the  Russian  bath  as  we  find  it  in  New  York  and  other  Amer- 
ican cities  ?" 

"  Certainly,"  was  the  reply.     "  It  is  a  room  filled  with  steam,  and  with 


206 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


a  series  of  benches  on  which  you  lie  and  are  heated,  the  highest  bench  be- 
ing hottest  of  all." 

"  The  Russian  bath  of  the  best  class  here,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "  is 
arranged  in  the  same  way.  The  more  primitive  bath  is  simply  a  room 
with  benches,  and  a  fire  on  a  pile  of  hot  stones.     Water  is  thrown  over 


a;  isai 


U:;SINC'il-Wml  T- 


A    HATH    IN    THE    EAST. 


the  stones  and  converted  into  steam,  and  the  finishing  touch  is  to  mount 
to  the  topmost  bench  while  an  attendant  deluges  the  stones  with  water 
and  raises  a  cloud  that  threatens  to  scald  you.  The  most  profuse  perspira- 
tion is  the  result,  and  the  bath  is  no  doubt  a  great  sanitary  institution. 


THE   RUSSIAN   BATH.  207 

The  Turkish  bath  is  much  like  the  Russian,  hot,  dry  air  taking  the  place 
of  steam. 

"  Taken  properly,  the  Russian  bath  has  no  bad  effects,  and  is  beneficial 
in  rheumatism,  gout,  certain  forms  of  neuralgia,  and  several  other  diseases. 
It  is  a  wonderful  restorative  when  you  have  been  shaken  up  in  carriages 
on  Russian  roads,  and  an  excellent  thing  after  a  journey  of  any  kind. 
Every  good  Russian  considers  it  his  duty  to  bathe  once  a  week,  but  he 
does  not  always  adhere  to  the  rule. 

"  In  every  village  there  is  a  bath-house  which  is  the  general  property 
of  the  villagers,  and  maintained  by  popular  contribution.  When  a  peasant 
has  no  bath-house  he  creeps  into  his  stove,  bakes  himself  on  the  hot  ashes, 
and  after  perspiring  freely  crawls  out  and  is  drenched  with  water.  Near- 
ly every  private  house  has  its  bath,  which  is  generally  in  a  small  building 
in  the  yard,  rather  than  in  the  dwelling-house.  In  all  the  large  cities 
there  are  numerous  bathing  establishments,  some  of  them  fitted  up  in  gor- 
geous style,  while  others  are  of  the  plainest  and  cheapest  sort.  The  Rus- 
sians are  quite  gregarions  in  their  bathing  habits,  and  think  no  more  of 
taking  a  bath  in  the  presence  of  each  other  than  of  dining  in  a  restau- 
rant." 

"Is  it  true  that  the  Russians  finish  a  bath  by  having  iced  water  poured 
over  them,  or  by  taking  a  plunge  into  it  V 

"  It  is  the  custom  to  close  the  pores  of  the  skin  by  means  of  cold,  but 
not  ice-cold  water.  The  attendant  begins  the  work  of  the  bath  by  throw- 
ing water  over  you,  first  warm,  then  hot,  then  hotter,  and  then  hottest. 
This  drenching  is  followed  by  the  steaming  process  and  a  gentle  flogging 
with  birchen  rods  or  switches  to  stimulate  perspiration.  Then  you  are 
soaped  and  scrubbed,  the  scrubbing  being  performed  usually  with  birchen 
shavings,  which  are  thoroughly  and  vigorously  applied. 

"After  this  you  are  again  drenched  with  buckets  of  water,  beginning 
with  warm  and  going  on  a  descending  scale  to  cold,  so  that  there  shall 
be  no  shock  to  the  system.  Men  have  rushed  from  the  bath  into  a  snow- 
bank, but  this  is  not  the  custom  ;  the  peasants  frequently  leave  the  bath  to 
take  a  swim  in  the  river,  but  only  in  mild  weather.  No  doubt  there  have 
been  cases  of  bathing  voluntarily  through  the  ice  or  in  iced  water,  but  you 
must  search  far  and  wide  to  find  them." 

Frank  remarked  that  he  thought  one  should  exercise  great  care  in 
going  into  the  open  air  in  winter  after  taking  a  bath.  Doctor  Bronson 
explained  that  this  was  the  reason  of  the  drenching  with  cold  water,  so 
that  the  pores  of  the  skin  would  be  closed  and  the  chances  of  taking  cold 
greatly  reduced. 


208 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS    IX   THE    RUSSIAN   EMITRE. 


"  It  is  quite  a  shock  to  the  system,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  to  pass  from  in 
doors  to  out,  or  from  out  doors  to  in,  during  the  Russian  winter.  The 
houses  are  generally  heated  to  about  70°  Fahrenheit ;  with  the  thermom- 
eter at  zero,  or  possibly  ten,  twenty,  or  more  degrees  below,  it  is  like 
stepping  from  a  furnace  to  a  refrigerator,  or  vice  versa.  But  the  natives 
do  not  seem  to  mind  it.     I  have  often  seen  a  mujik  rise  from  his  couch 


RUSSIAN    STIIEET 


I'ENE    IN    WINTER. 


on  the  top  of  the  stove,  and  after  tightening  his  belt  and  putting  on  his 
boots  and  cap,  mount  the  box  of  a  sleigh  and  drive  for  two  or  three  hours 
in  a  temperature  far  below  zero." 

"  I  have  read  somewhere,"  said  Fred,  "  about  the  danger  of  losing  one's 
ears  and  nose  by  frost,  and  that  it  is  the  custom  in  St.  Petersburg  and  Mos- 
cow to  warn  any  one  that  he  is  being  frozen.  Did  you  ever  see  a  case 
of  the  kind  V 

"It  is  a  strange  circumstance,"  replied  the  Doctor,  "that  nearly  every 
tourist  who  has  been  in  Russia,  even  for  only  a  week  or  so.  claims  to  have 
seen  a  crowd  running  after  a  man  or  woman,  calling  out  lNo8s!  nossP 


HOW  TO   KEEP  THE  NOSE  FROM  FREEZING.  209 

and  when  the  victim  did  not  understand,  seizing  him  or  her  and  rubbing 
the  nose  violently  with  snow. 

"  One  writer  tells  it  as  occurring  to  a  French  actress ;  auother,  to  an 
English  ambassador ;  auother,  to  an  American  politician ;  and  in  each  case 
the  story  is  varied  to  give  it  a  semblance  of  truth.  I  was  in  Moscow  and 
St.  Petersburg  during  January  and  February ;  and  though  constantly 
watching  to  see  somebody's  nose  pulled,  was  doomed  to  disappointment. 
I  asked  my  Russian  friends  about  it,  and  none  of  them  was  wiser  than  I. 
One  said  it  might  happen  once  in  a  great  while,  but  it  was  safe  to  con- 
clude that  everybody  knew  enough  to  take  care  of  his  own  nose." 

Frank  asked  how  one  could  tell  when  his  nose  was  freezing,  01  how 
observe  the  freezing  of  another's. 

"Tbe  nose  and  ears  become  numb  and  turn  white,"  was  the  reply, 
"and  that  indicates  the  beginning  of  the  freezing.  When  this  is  the 
condition  nothing  but  a  vigorous  rubbing  to  restore  the  circulation  will 
prevent  the  loss  of  those  organs.  It  is  for  protection  from  the  frost  that 
the  Russians  keep  their  faces  wrapped  in  furs ;  and  if  a  man  has  any  doubt 
about  the  condition  of  his  facial  attachments  he  will  touch  them  occa- 
sionally to  make  sure.  When  you  pinch  your  nose  and  do  not  feel  the 
pinch,  it  is  time  to  rub  with  snow,  promptly  and  with  energy. 

"  Severe  cold  is  very  inconvenient  for  the  wearer  of  a  mustache,  as  he 
speedily  gathers  a  great  quantity  of  ice  there  by  the  congelation  of  the 
moisture  of  his  breath.  A  man's  beard  becomes  a  frozen  mass  in  a  little 
while.  Beard  and  furs  frequently  freeze  together,  and  render  a  sudden 
turn  of  the  head  a  matter  of  great  annoyance.  Ladies  find  their  veils 
stiffening  into  something  like  wire  gauze  when-  the  thermometer  runs 
low.  They  disdain  the  bonnet  of  London  or  Paris,  and  sensibly  enclose 
their  head  in  hoods  lined  with  fur,  and  having  capes  descending  well 
into  the  neck. 

"  Horses  become  white  in  a  short  time,  no  matter  what  may  be  their 
real  color,  from  the  formation  of  frost  all  over  their  bodies.  Their  breath 
suggests  steam  more  than  anything  else,  and  the  long  hairs  around  their 
noses  are  turned  into  icy  spikes.  In  the  severest  weather  pigeons  have 
been  seen  to  fall  to  the  ground  paralyzed  with  the  cold,  but  it  is  quite 
likely  that  their  flights  were  forced,  and  the  birds  were  half  frozen  before 
taking  wing." 

Frank  asked  if  it  often  happened  that  people  were  frozen  to  death  in 
these  Russian  winters. 

"  Occurrences  of  this  kind  probably  take  place  every  year,"  was  the 
reply,  "but  from  all  I  have  been  able  to  learn  I  believe  the  number  is 

14 


210 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


exaggerated.  In  many  cases  it  is  the  fault  of  the  frozen  ones  themselves ; 
they  have  been  rendered  insensible  or  careless  by  stimulants,  and  gone  to 
sleep  in  the  open  air.  The  tendency  to  sleep  when  one  is  exposed  to 
severe  cold  should  be  resisted,  as  it  is  very  likely  to  be  the  sleep  of  death. 


LOST    IN    A    SSOW-STOltM. 


"  There  is  a  story  of  two  travellers  who  saw  a  third  in  trouble ;  one  of 
them  proposed  to  go  to  the  relief  of  the  man  in  distress,  but  the  other 
refused,  saying  he  would  not  stir  out  of  their  sleigh.  The  first  went  and 
relieved  the  sufferer ;  his  exertions  set  the  blood  rushing  through  his  veins 
and  saved  him  from  injury  by  the  cold,  while  the  one  who  refused  to  ren- 
der aid  was  frozen  to  death. 

"  It  is  a  curious  fact,"  said  the  Doctor,  in  closing  his  remarks  upon  the 
Russian  winter,  "  that  foreigners  coming  here  do  not  feel  the  cold  at  first. 
They  walk  the  streets  in  the  same  clothing  they  would  wear  in  London 
or  Paris,  and  laugh  at  the  Russians  wrapping  themselves  in  furs.  At  the 
same  time  the  Russians  laugh  at  them  and  predict  that  if  they  stay  in 
the  country  for  another  season  they  will  change  their  ways.  A  stranger 
does  not  feel  the  cold  the  first  winter  as  sensibly  as  do  the  Russians,  but 
in  every  succeeding  season  of  frost  he  is  fully  sensitive  to  it,  and  vies  with 
the  natives  in  constant  use  of  his  furs." 


FROM  ST.  PETERSBURG  TO  NOVGOROD.  iill 


CHAPTER  XI. 

LEAVING  ST.  PETERSBURG.— NOVGOROD  THE  GREAT:  ITS  HISTORY  AND  TRADI- 
TIONS.—RURIK  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS.— BARBARITIES  OF  JOHN  THE  TERRI- 
BLE.—EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA.— AN  IMPERIAL  BEAR-HUNT.— ORIGIN  OF 
THE  HOUSE  OF  ROMANOFF.— "  A  LIFE  FOR  THE  CZAR."— RAILWAYS  IN  RUSSIA 
FROM  NOVGOROD  TO  MOSCOW. 

A  DAY  was  appointed  for  leaving  St.  Petersburg.  Notice  was  given 
at  the  office  of  the  hotel,  and  the  passports  of  the  three  travellers  re- 
ceived the  necessary  indorsements  at  the  Police  Bureau.  Trunks  were 
packed  and  bills  settled,  and  at  the  proper  time  a  carriage  conveyed  the 
party  to  the  commodious  station  of  the  Imperial  Railway  from  the  new 
capital  of  Russia  to  the  old.  But  they  did  not  take  their  tickets  direct 
for  Moscow. 

As  before  stated,  the  railway  between  the  two  great  cities  of  the  Czar's 
dominions  is  very  nearly  a  straight  line,  and  was  laid  oiit  by  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  with  a  ruler  placed  on  the  map  and  a  pencil  drawn  along  its  edge. 
There  is  consequently  no  city  of  importance  along  the  route,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Tver,  where  the  line  crosses  the  Volga.  Novgorod,  the  oldest 
city  of  Russia,  is  about  forty  miles  from  the  railway  as  originally  laid  out. 
Until  within  a  few  years  it  was  reached  by  steamers  in  summer  from  Vol- 
khova  Station,  seventy-five  miles  from  St.  Petersburg.  In  winter  travellers 
were  carried  in  sledges  from  Chudova  Station  (near  Volkhova),  and  to 
novices  in  this  kind  of  travel  the  ride  was  interesting. 

Latterly  a  branch  line  has  been  completed  to  Novgorod,  and  one  may 
leave  St.  Petersburg  at  9  a.m.  and  reach  Novgorod  at  6  p.m.  The  pace  of 
the  trains  is  not  dangerously  fast,  and  accidents  are  of  rare  occurrence. 
Between  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg  (four  hundred  and  three  miles)  the 
running  time  for  express  trains  is  twenty  hours,  and  for  way  trains  twenty- 
three  to  twenty-five  hours.  Nine  hours  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Novgorod 
(one  hundred  and  twenty  miles)  should  not  startle  the  most  timorous 
tourist. 

Doctor  Bronson  had  told  the  youths  some  days  before  their  departure 
that  they  would  visit  Novgorod  on  their  way  to  Moscow.     He  suggested 


212 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


that  he  desired  them  to  be  informed  about  its  history,  and  soon  after  the 
train  started  he  referred  to  the  subject. 

"It  is  rather  an  odd  circumstance,"  said  Frank,  "  that  the  oldest  city 


WORKMEN   OF    NOVGOROD — GLAZIER,    PAINTER,    AND    CARPENTERS. 


in  Russia  is  called  Novgorod,  or  'New  City.*  JYovo  means  'new,'  and 
Go  rod  is  Russian  for  'city.'  It  received  its  name  when  it  was  really  the 
newest  town  in  Russia,  and  has  kept  it  ever  since." 

"  It  is  also  called  Novgorod  Veliki,"  said  Fred,  "  which  means  Novgo- 
rod the  Great.  In  the  fifteenth  century  it  had  a  population  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand,  and  was  really  entitled  to  be  called  the  great.  At  present 
it  has  less  than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  its  industries  are  of  little 
importance  compared  to  what  they  used  to  be. 

"It  has  a  trade  in  flax,  corn,  and  hemp,"  the  youth  continued,  "and  its 
manufactures  are  principally  in  tobacco,  leather,  sail-cloth,  vinegar,  and 
candles.  In  former  times  an  important  fair  was  held  here,  and  merchants 
came  to  Novgorod  from  all  parts  of  Europe  and  many  countries  of  Asia. 
Afterwards  the  fair  was  removed  to  Nijui  Novgorod,  on  the  Volga,  and 


CELEBRATION   OF   RUSSIA'S   MILLENNIAL. 


213 


the  ancient  city  became  of  little  consequence  except  for  its  historical  in- 
terest." 

"  The  Slavs  founded  a  town  there  in  the  fourth  century,"  said  Frank. 
"  About  the  year  862  the  Russian  monarchy  had  its  beginning  at  Nov- 
gorod ;  in  1862  there  was  a  millennial  celebration  there,  and  a  magnificent 
monument  was  erected  to  commemorate  it." 

"  This  is  a  good  place  for  you  to  tell  us  about  the  early  history  of  Rus- 
sia," said  the  Doctor. 

"I  have  been  studying  it,"  Frank  replied,  "and  find  that  previous  to 
the  ninth  century  the  country  was  occupied  by  the  Slavs,  who  founded  the 


^^J£SSS£?:_-~  «l 


AN    OLD    XOESE    CHIEF. 


towns  of  Novgorod  and  Kief.  Each  of  these  places  was  the  capital  of  an 
independent  Slavic  principality.  Very  little  is  known  of  the  history  of 
the  Slavs  in  those  times.  The  Varangians,  a  northern  people,  made  war 
upon  them.     The  Slavs  resisted,  but  finally  invited  Rurik,  the  Prince  of 


211  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

the  Varangians,  to  come  and  rule  over  them.  The  Northmen,  or  Yaran- 
giaus,  were  called  'Russ'  by  the  Slavs,  and  from  them  the  new  monarchy 
was  called  Russia.  Rurik  came  with  his  two  brothers,  Sineus  and  Truvor, 
and  at  Novgorod  laid  the  foundation  of  this  empire  that  now  covers  one- 
eighth  of  the  land  surface  of  the  globe. 

"  The  story  is  admirably  told  in  verse  by  Bayard  Taylor.  I  have  cop- 
ied the  lines  from  his  poetical  volume,  and  will  read  them  to  you.'1 

In  a  full,  clear  voice  the  youth  then  read  as  follows,  having  previously 
explained  that  Mr.  Taylor  was  present  at  the  millennial  celebration  already 
mentioned : 

A    THOUSAND    YEARS. 

Novgorod,  Russia,  Sept.  20,  1SG2. 

"  'A  thousand  years  !    Through  storm  and  fire, 
With  varying  fate,  the  work  has  grown, 
Till  Alexander  crowns  the  spire, 
Where  Rurik  laid  the  corner-stone. 

"'The  chieftain's  sword,  that  could  not  rust, 
But  bright  in  constant  hattle  grew, 
Raised  to  the  world  a  throne  august — 
A  nation  grander  than  he  knew. 

"  'Nor  he,  alone  ;  but  those  who  have, 

Through  faith  or  deed,  an  equal  part : 
The  subtle  brain  of  Yaroslav, 
Vladimir's  arm  and  Nikon's  heart ; 

"  'The  later  hands,  that  built  so  well 

The  work  sublime  which  these  began, 
And  up  from  base  to  pinnacle 
Wrought  out  the  Empire's  mighty  plan. 

"  'All  these,  to-day,  are  crowned  anew, 

And  rule  in  splendor  where  they  trod, 
While  Russia's  children  throng  to  view 
Her  holy  cradle,  Novgorod. 

"  'From  Volga's  banks  ;  from  Dwina's  side  ; 
From  pine-clad  Ural,  dark  and  long  ; 
Or  where  the  foaming  Terek's  tide 
Leaps  down  from  Kasbck,  bright  with  song  ; 

"  'From  Altai's  chain  of  mountain-cones  ; 
Mongolian  deserts,  far  and  free  ; 
And  lands  that  bind,  through  changing  zones, 
The  Eastern  and  the  Western  sea  ! 


FOUNDING  THE  EMPIRE.  215 

"  '  To  every  race  she  gives  a  home, 

And  creeds  and  laws  enjoy  her  shade, 
Till,  far  beyond  the  dreams  of  Rome, 
Her  Cffisar's  mandate  is  obeyed. 

"  '  She  blends  the  virtues  they  impart, 

And  holds,  within  her  life  combined, 
The  patient  faith  of  Asia's  heart — 
The  force  of  Europe's  restless  mind. 

"'She  bids  the  nomad's  wanderings  cease; 
She  binds  the  wild  marauder  fast ; 
Her  ploughshares  turn  to  homes  of  peace 
The  battle-fields  of  ages  past. 

"  '  And,  nobler  yet,  she  dares  to  know 

Her  future's  task,  nor  knows  in  vain, 
But  strikes  at  once  the  generous  blow 
That  makes  her  millions  men  again ! 

"  '  So,  firmer  based,  her  power  expands, 

Nor  yet  has  seen  its  crowning  hour — 
Still  teaching  to  the  struggling  lands 
That  Peace  the  offspring  is  of  Power. 

"  'Build,  then,  the  storied  bronze,  to  tell 

The  steps  whereby  this  height  she  trod — 
The  thousand  years  that  chronicle 
The  toil  of  Man,  the  help  of  God ! 

"  '  And  may  the  thousand  years  to  come — 
The  future  ages,  wise  and  free — 
Still  see  her  flag  and  hear  her  drum 
Across  the  world,  from  sea  to  sea ! — 

' '  '  Still  find,  a  symbol  stern  and  grand, 
Her  ancient  eagle's  wings  unshorn; 
One  head  to  watch  the  Western  land, 
And  one  to  guard  the  land  of  morn.' 

"  Bear  in  mind,"  said  Frank,  after  pausing  at  the  end  of  the  lines, 
"  that  the  millennial  celebration  took  place  not  long  after  the  edict  of 
emancipation  was  issued  by  Alexander  II.  This  is  what  Mr.  Taylor  refers 
to  in  the  third  line  of  his  poem. 

"  To  go  on  with  the  story,  let  me  say  that  Rurik  and  his  descendants 
ruled  the  country  for  more  than  two  centuries.  They  made  war  upon 
their  neighbors,  and  were  generally  victorious,  and  in  their  time  the  boun- 
daries of  Russia   were  very  much  enlarged.     Rurik  and  his  sons  were 


216 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


pagans.  In  the  tenth  century  Christianity  was  introduced,  and  Olga,  the 
widow  of  Igor,  son  of  Rurik,  was  baptized  at  Constantinople.  Her  son 
remained  a  pagan.  He  was  slain  in  battle,  and  left  the  monarchy  to  his 
three  sons,  who  soon  began  to  quarrel.  One  was  killed  in  battle,  and  an- 
other was  put  to  death  by  the  third  brother,  Vladimir,  who  assumed  entire 
control,  and  was  surnamed  '  The  Great '  on  account  of  the  benefits  he 
conferred  upon  Russia." 

Fred  asked  if  Vladimir  was  a  Christian. 

"  He  was  not,"  said  Frank,  "  at  least  not  in  the  beginning,  but  he  sub- 
sequently became  a  convert  to  the  principles  of  the  Greek  Church,  niar- 


YIEW    ON    THE    STEPPE. 


ried  the  sister  of  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  and  was  baptized  on  the 
day  of  his  wedding,  in  the  year  9S8.  He  ordered  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  into  Russia,  and  established  a  great  many  churches  and 
schools. 

"Vladimir  left  the  throne  to  his  twelve  sons,  who  quarrelled  about  it 
till  several  of  them  were  murdered  or  slain  in  battle.  The  successful  soil 
was  Yaroslav,  who  followed  the  example  of  his  father  by  extending  the 
boundaries  of  the  country  and  introducing  reforms.  lie  caused  many 
Greek  books  to  be  translated  into  Slavic,  and  ordered  the  compilation  of 
the  '  Russkaya  Pravda,'  which  was  the  first  law  code  of  the  country. 
Nikon,  whom  Mr.  Taylor  mentions  in  the  same  line  with  Vladimir,  was  a 
Russian  scholar  and  theologian  of  a  later  time,  to  whom  the  religion  of 
Russia  is  much  indebted. 

"After  Yaroslav's  death  there  were  many  internal  and  external  wars, 
during  which  Russia  lost  a  great  deal  of  territory,  and  the  history  of  the 
country  for  a  long  period  is  a  history  of  calamities.  The  Tartars  under 
Genghis  Khan  invaded   Russia,  plundering   towns  and   cities,  murdering 


A  BIT  OF  RUSSIAN  HISTORY. 


217 


IVAN    THE    TERRIBLE. 


the  inhabitants,  and  ravaging  the  whole  country  from  the  frontiers  of  Asia 
to  the  banks  of  the  Vistula.  Famine  and  pestilence  accompanied  war ;  in 
the  year  1230  thirty  thousand  people  died  of  the  plague  at  Smolensk  and 
forty-two  thousand  at  Novgorod.  Alexander  Nevski  defeated  the  Swedes 
and  Livonians  on  the  banks  of  the  Neva.  He  was  a  prince  of  Novgorod, 
and  one  of  the  most  enlightened  of  his  time. 

"Moscow  was  founded  about  1147,  and  grew  rapidly,  although  it  was 
repeatedly  sacked  by  the  Mongol  invaders,  who  slew  on  one  occasion 
twenty-four  thousand  of  its  inhabitants.  The  capital  was  established  there, 
and  under  various  rulers  the  war  with  the  Mongols  was  continued  to  a 
successful  end.  Ivan  III.,  surnamed  '  The  Great,'  drove  them  out,  and 
successfully  repelled  their  attempts  to  return.  His  son  and  successor, 
Ivan  IV.,  was  surnamed  '  The  Terrible,'  and  certainly  he  deserved  the  ap- 
pellation. We  have  mentioned  him  already  in  our  account  of  what  we 
saw  in  St.  Petersburg. 

"  He  was  an  energetic  warrior,  encouraged  commerce,  made  treaties  with 
other  nations,  introduced  the  art  of  printing,  and  invited  many  foreigners 
to  reside  in  Russia  and  give  instruction  to  the  people.    On  the  other  hand, 


218  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

he  was  one  of  the  most  cruel  rulers  that  ever  governed  a  people,  and  seems 
to  have  rivalled  the  brutalities  of  the  Mongols.  Here  are  some  of  his 
cruelties  that  are  recorded  in  history : 

"  He  hated  Novgorod  on  account  of  the  independent  spirit  of  its  peo- 
ple, and  for  this  reason  he  put  more  than  sixty  thousand  of  its  inhabitants 
to  death,  many  of  them  with  torture.  Novgorod  had  maintained  an  inde- 
pendent government,  quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  Grand -duchy  of 
Moscow.  Ivan  III.  and  his  son,  Vassili,  made  war  upon  Novgorod  and 
the  other  independent  principality  of  Pskov,  and  Ivan  IV.  ('  The  Terrible ') 
brought  them  to  complete  submission.  The  slaughter  of  the  people  of 
Novgorod  was  the  closing  act  of  the  conquest. 

"  "We  will  change  Ivan  to  its  English  equivalent,  John,  and  henceforth 
speak  of  this  monster  as  John  the  Terrible.  He  was  only  four  years  old 
when  he  became  Czar.  During  his  infancy  the  government  was  con- 
ducted by  his  mother,  under  the  direction  of  the  House  of  Boyards  (noble- 
men). When  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age  a  political  party  which  was 
opposed  to  the  Boyards  suggested  that  he  could  rule  without  any  assist- 
ance, and  he  at  once  took  the  control  of  affairs.  Very  soon  he  terrified 
those  who  had  placed  him  on  the  throne,  and  they  would  hare  been  gladly 
rid  of  him  if  they  could. 

"An  English  ambassador  came  to  Moscow  bringing  the  answer  to  a 
letter  in  which  John  had  proposed  marriage  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  The 
Queen  rejected  his  offer,  but  in  such  a  diplomatic  manner  as  not  to  offend 
the  sanguinary  Czar.  Her  ambassador  incurred  the  monarch's  ill-will  by 
neglecting  to  uncover  before  him,  and  it  was  accordingly  ordered  that  the 
envoy's  hat  should  be  nailed  to  his  head.  Foreigners  were  better  treated 
than  were  the  subjects  of  John,  and  the  ambassador  was  not  harmed,  though 
he  was  afterwards  imprisoned. 

"  For  his  amusement  John  the  Terrible  used  to  order  a  number  of 
people  to  be  sewed  up  in  bear-skins,  and  then  torn  to  death  by  bear- 
hounds.  For  tearing  prisoners  to  pieces  he  ordered  the  tops  of  several 
trees  to  be  bent  down  so  that  they  came  together;  the  limbs  of  the  un- 
fortunate victim  were  fastened  to  these  tops,  each  limb  to  a  different  tree. 
"When  they  were  thus  tied  up,  the  release  of  the  trees  performed  the  work 
intended  by  the  cruel  Czar." 

"Isn't  John's  name  connected  with  the  Church  of  St.  Basil  at  Mos- 
cow ?"  Fred  asked. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Frank ;  "  it  was  built  in  his  reign,  and  is  considered 
one  of  the  finest  in  the  city.  "When  it  was  finished  John  sent  for  the 
architect  and  asked  if  he  could  build  another  like  it. 


THE   HOUSE  OF  ROMANOFF. 


219 


"  '  Certainly  I  could,'  the  architect  replied,  with  delight. 

"Thereupon  the  monarch  ordered  the  architect's  eyes  to  be  put  out, 
to  make  sure  that  the  Church  of  St.  Basil  should  have  no  rival. 

"  Whether  he  was  a  kind  husband  or  not  we  have  no  information,  but 
he  certainly  was  very  much  a  husband.     He  had  one  Mohammedan  and 
two  Russian  wives ;  and  at  the  very  time  he  sought  the  hand  of  Eliza- 
beth, Queen  of  England,  he 
proposed     to     marry     the 


daughter    of    King 


Sigis- 


ALEXIS    MICHA1LOVITCII,  FATHER    OF    PETER    THE    GREAT. 


mund  of  Poland.  What  he 
intended  doing  if  both  of- 
fers were  accepted  we  are 
not  told,  but  it  is  not  likely 
that  bigamy  would  have 
had  any  terrors  for  a  man 
of  such  ungovernable  tem- 
per as  lie  seems  to  have 
been. 

"  At  his  death  his  son 
and  successor,  Feodor,  fell 
under  the  influence  of  Boris 
Godounoff,  his  brother-in- 
law,  who  assumed  full  pow- 
er after  a  time,  and  renewed 
the  relations  with  England 

which  had  been  suspended  for  a  while.  Godounoff  obtained  the  throne 
by  poisoning  or  exiling  several  of  his  relatives  who  stood  in  his  way  or 
opposed  his  projects.  Feodor  is  believed  to  have  died  of  poison  ;  he  was 
the  Czar  from  15S4  to  159S,  but  for  the  last  ten  years  of  this  period  he 
had  practically  no  voice  in  State  affairs.  With  his  death  the  House  of 
Burik  became  extinct." 

"Does  the  House  of  Bomanoff,  the  present  rulers  of  Bussia,  begin 
where  that  of  Burik  ended  ?"  the  Doctor  asked. 

"Not  exactly,"  was  the  reply,  "as  there  was  an  interval  of  nineteen 
years,  and  a  very  important  period  in  the  history  of  the  Empire.  Several 
pretenders  to  the  throne  had  appeared,  among  them  Demetrius,  who  is 
known  in  history  as  the  '  Impostor.'  He  married  a  Polish  lady,  and  it 
was  partly  through  her  intrigues  that  Moscow  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Poles." 

"And  how  were  they  driven  out?" 


220 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


"  A  butcher  or  cattle-dealer  of  Nijni  Novgorod,  named  Minin,  gathered 
a  small  army  under  the  belief  that  he  was  ordered  by  Heaven  to  free  his 
country  from  the  invaders.  He  persuaded  Prince  Pojarsky  to  lead  these 
soldiers  to  Moscow,  and  together  they  started.  Their  force  increased  as 
they  advanced,  and  finally  they  expelled  the  Poles  and  redeemed  the  capi- 
tal. The  names  of  Minin  and  Pojarsky  are  very  prominent  in  Russian 
history.     Monuments  at  Moscow  and  Nijni  Novgorod  commemorate  the 

action    of    these    patriotic 
%^  men,  and  tell  the  story  of 

their    work    in    behalf    of 
their  country. 

'■  The  incident  on  which 
Glinka's  opera, '  A  Life  for 
the  Czar,'  is  based  belongs 
to  this  period,  when  the 
Poles  overran  Russia.  The 
Czar  who  was  saved  was 
Michael  Feodorovitch,  the 
first  of  the  Romanoffs,  and 
he  was  elected  to  the  throne 
by  an  assembly  of  nobles. 
The  autocrat  of  all  the  Rus- 
sias  is  descended  from  a 
man  who  was  chosen  to  of- 
fice by  the  form  of  govern- 
ment which  is  now  much 
more  in  vogue  in  America 
than  in  the  land  of  the 
Czar.  Michael,  the  first  of 
the  Romanoffs,  was  the  son  of  Feodor  Romanoff,  Archbishop  of  Rostov, 
and  afterwards  Patriarch  of  Moscow. 

"  There  was  nothing  remarkable  about  the  reign  of  Feodor.  nor  of  that 
of  his  son  Alexis.  The  latter  was  distinguished  for  being  the  father  of 
Peter  the  Great,  and  for  nothing  else  that  I  can  find  in  history.  Now  we 
step  from  ancient  to  modern  times.  Peter  the  Great  belongs  to  our  day. 
and  the  Russia  that  we  are  visiting  is  the  one  that  he  developed.  Under 
him  the  country  became  an  Empire,  where  it  was  before  nothing  more 
than  a  kingdom.     During  his  reign — " 

They  were  interrupted  by  the  stoppage  of  the  train  at  a  station, 
and  the  announcement  that  they  must  wait   there   an  hour  or  more   to 


MICHAEL    FEODOROVITCH,  FIRST    CZAR    OF   THE    ROMANOFF 
FAMILY. 


AN   IMPERIAL   BEAR-HUNT. 


221 


receive  some  of  the  Imperial  foresters,  who  were  arranging  for  a  bear- 
liunt. 

Russian  history  was  dropped  at  once  for  a  more  practical  and  modern 
subject,  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  and  his  pursuit  of  the  bear. 

The  Doctor  explained  to  the  youths  that  the  Czar  is  supposed  to  be 
fond  of  the  chase,  and  whenever  a  bear  is  seen  anywhere  near  the  line  of 
the  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg  Railway  he  is  made  the  object  of  an  Im- 
perial hunt.  The  animal  is  driven  into  a  forest  and  allowed  to  remain 
there  undisturbed.  In  fact  he  is  kept  in  the  forest  by  a  cordon  of  peas- 
ants hastily  assembled  from  all  the  surrounding  country.  As  soon  as  the 
party  can  be  organized,  the  hunt  takes  place  in  grand  style. 


Wm<M>mAe^S^ 


n 


■  ■/>  -  ^^-  z^MKSg  i 


TOO    NEAR    TO    BE    PLEASANT. 


The  Imperial  train  is  prepared,  and  an  extra  train  sent  out  in  advance, 
with  the  necessary  beaters,  soldiers,  and  others,  and  also  a  plentiful  supply 
of  provisions.  The  Imperial  train  contains  the  Emperor's  private  carriage 
and  several  other  fine  vehicles.  There  are  carriages  for  the  Emperor's 
horses,  unless  they  have  gone  in  the  advance  train,  and  there  are  guns  and 
ammunition  sufficient  to  slaughter  half  the  bears  in  the  Empire. 

When  the  ground  is  reached  the  locality  of  the  bear  is  pointed  out, 
and  the  Emperor  rides  fearlessly  to  the  spot.  He  is  accompanied  by  his 
staff  and  guests,  if  he  happens  to  have  any  Royal  or  Imperial  visitors  at 


222 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


the  time ;  but  unless  the  guests  are  invited  to  do  the  shooting,  the  honor  of 
killing  the  beast  is  reserved  for  the  Emperor.  Exceptions  are  made  in 
case  the  bear  should  endanger  the  life  of  his  Majesty,  which  sometimes 
happens.  Bears  have  little  sense  of  Imperial  dignity,  and  a  Czar  is  of  no 
more  consequence  to  an  untamed  bruin  than  is  the  most  ordinary  peasant. 
"A  gentleman  who  was  stopping  on  an  estate  in  the  interior  of  Rus- 
sia," said  Doctor  Bronson,  "happened  to  be  a  witness  of  an  Imperial  bear- 
hunt  several  years  ago,  and  told  me  about  it.  He  said  not  less  than  five 
hundred  Cossacks  and  peasants  were  employed  in  watching  the  bear,  to 
keep  him  from  straying,  and  the  brute  had  become  so  accustomed  to  their 


WOLF    ATTACKING    ITS    HUNTERS. 


presence  that  he  stood  quite  still  when  approached  by  the  Emperor,  so 
that  the  latter  delivered  bis  shot  at  a  distance  of  not  more  than  a  dozen 
yards.  The  animal,  was  killed  instantly,  the  ball  penetrating  his  forehead 
and  crashing  through  his  brain. 

"After  the  hunt  the  party  rode  to  the  house  of  the  owner  of  the  es- 
tate where  the  bear  had  been  found,  and  enjoyed  a  hearty  supper,  and  af- 
ter the  supper  they  returned  to  the  capital.  The  body  of  the  slain  animal 
was  dressed  for  transportation  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  it  was  to  be  served 
up  at  the  Imperial  table. 


BEARS   DRIVEN  TO  MARKET.  223 

"  I  have  heard  of  bears  that  did  not  run  at  the  sight  of  man,  but  some- 
times came  altogether  too  near  to  be  agreeable.  One  day  a  man  who  lay 
asleep  on  the  ground  was  awakened  by  a  bear  licking  his  face.  He  sat  up 
and  was  much  terrified  at  the  situation ;  the  bear  finally  walked  off,  and 
left  the  man  unharmed. 

"  When  the  Emperor  treats  his  Royal  or  Imperial  guests  to  a  wolf  or 
bear  hunt,  the  masters  of  ceremonies  take  good  care  that  there  shall  be 
game  in  the  forest.  On  one  occasion,  when  the  Crown-prince  of  Germany 
was  a  guest  at  the  Winter  Palace,  the  Emperor  ordered  a  wolf-hunt  for 
his  amusement.  The  chase  was  successful,  and  two  of  the  animals  were 
driven  so  that  they  were  shot  by  the  guest. 

"During  their  return  to  St.  Petersburg,  so  the  story  goes,  the  Prince 
commented  on  the  wonderful  race  of  wolves  in  Russia.  '  One  of  those  I 
killed  to-day,'  said  he, '  had  the  hair  rubbed  from  his  neck  as  if  by  a  chain, 
and  the  other  wore  a  collar.'  " 

"Are  there  many  bears  in  Russia ?"  one  of  the  youths  inquired. 

"The  bear  is  found  all  over  Russia,"  the  Doctor  answered.  "The 
most  common  varieties  are  the  black  and  brown  bears,  which  are  in  Asi- 
atic as  well  as  European  Russia  ;  in  northern  Asia  is  the  Arctic  bear,  which 
belongs  to  the  sea  rather  than  to  the  land.  He  is  the  largest  of  the  fami- 
ly, but  not  the  most  formidable.  The  champion  bear  of  the  world  for 
fighting  qualities  is  the  grisly,  found  only  in  North  America. 

"In  some  parts  of  Russia,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "bears  are  so  numer- 
ous as  to  do  a  great  deal  of  damage.  They  destroy  cattle  and  sheep,  and 
not  unfrequently  attack  individuals.  They  cause  much  havoc  among  fruit- 
trees  and  in  grain-fields,  and  in  localities  where  inhabitants  are  few  they 
have  things  pretty  much  their  own  way.  They  are  hunted  with  dogs  and 
guns ;  traps  are  set  for  them,  and  poison  is  scattered  where  they  can  find 
and  eat  it.  But  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  man  against  them  they  do  not 
diminish  in  numbers  from  year  to  year,  and  the  Emperor  is  able  to  have  a 
bear-hunt  about  as  often  as  he  wants  one. 

"  I  have  heard  that  in  some  parts  of  Siberia  bears  are  caught  and 
tamed,  and  then  driven  to  market  as  one  drives  oxen  or  sheep.  In  a  book 
of  travels  written  by  a  Frenchman  there  is  a  picture  of  a  dozen  or  more 
bears  being  driven  to  market,  and  the  story  is  told  in  all  soberness.  French 
travellers  are  famous  for  a  tendency  to  make  their  narratives  interesting, 
even  if  veracity  should  suffer.  There  are  exceptions,  of  course,  as  in  ev- 
erything else,  but  you  may  set  it  down  as  a  good  general  rule,  not  to  ac- 
cept without  question  any  extraordinary  statement  you  find  in  a  French 
book  of  travel." 


224 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


In  due  time  the  journey  was  resumed,  and  the  train  readied  Novgo- 
rod,  where  our  travellers  alighted.  Novgorod  stands  on  both  sides  of  the 
Volkhov  River,  and  is  one  hundred  and  three  miles  from  St.  Petersburg 
by  the  old  post-road.  It  is  not  remarkable  for  its  architecture,  and  is 
chiefly  interesting  for  its  historical  associations  and  souvenirs. 

"  We  visited  several  of  the  churches  and  monasteries  which  make  up 
the  attractions  of  Novgorod,"  said  Frank,  in  his  journal.  "  The  principal 
church  is  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Sophia,  which  was  called  in  ancient  times 
'  The  Heart  and  Soul  of  the  Great  Novgorod.'     The  first  cathedral  was 


OLD    PICTURE    IN    THE    CHURCH. 

built  here  in  9S9 ;  the  present  one  dates  from  about  10-15,  when  it  was 
erected  by  order  of  the  grandson  of  St.  Vladimir.  It  has  been  altered 
and  repaired  repeatedly,  but  the  alterations  have  not  materially  changed  it 
from  its  ancient  form.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  churches  in  Russia,  and  is 
held  in  great  reverence  by  the  people. 

"The  church  has  suffered  by  repeated  plunderiugs.  It  was  robbed 
by  John  the  Terrible,  and  afterwards  by  the  Swedes;  the  latter,  in  1611, 
killed  two  of  the  priests  and  destroyed  the  charter  which  had  been 
granted  to  the  cathedral  more  than  fifty  years  before.     In  spite  of  these 


THE   CHURCH   OF  NOVGOROD. 


225 


depredations,  the  church  contains  many  relics  and  images,  some  of  them 
of  great  antiquity.  There  are  shrines  in  memory  of  Yaroslav,  Vladimir, 
and  other  of  the  ancient  rulers  of  Russia;  the  shrine  and  tomb  of  St. 
Anne,  daughter  of  King  Olaf  of  Sweden,  and  wife  of  Prince  Yaroslav  I. ; 
and  the  shrines  or  tombs  of  many  other  saints,  princes,  archbishops,  patri- 
archs, and  other  dignitaries  whose  names  have  been  connected  with  the 


A    BISHOP    OF    THE    GREKK    CHCRCH. 


history  of  the  church  and  the  city.     So  many  tombs  are  here  that  there  is 
little  room  for  more. 

"  You  would  hardly  expect  one  of  the  curious  relics  of  a  church  to  be 
the  result  of  piracy,  yet  such  appears  to  be  the  case  in  this  sacred  buikl- 

15 


226  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS    IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

ing.  The  doors  leading  into  the  Chapel  of  the  Nativity  are  said  to  have 
been  stolen  from  a  church  in  Sweden  by  pirates.  Several  men  from  Nov- 
gorod belonged  to  the  freebooting  band,  and  brought  these  doors  home  to 
enrich  the  cathedral  of  their  native  place.  The  doors  are  of  oak,  covered 
with  metal  plates  half  an  inch  thick ;  the  plates  bear  several  devices  and 
scrolls  which  we  could  not  understand,  but  our  guide  said  they  were  the 
armorial  bearings  of  Swedish  noblemen.  There  is  another  door,  which 
is  also  said  to  have  been  stolen  from  a  church,  but  its  exact  origin  is 
unknown. 

"  In  the  sacristy  they  showed  us  an  ancient  copy  of  the  four  gospels 
on  vellum,  and  a  printed  copy  which  is  said  to  have  come  from  the  first 
printing-press  ever  set  up  in  Russia.  There  were  several  flags  and  stand- 
ards which  once  belonged  to  the  princes  of  Novgorod,  one  of  them  a  pres- 
ent from  Peter  the  Great  in  1693.  There  was  once  an  extensive  library 
connected  with  the  cathedral,  but  it  was  taken  to  St.  Petersburg  in  1S59. 
They  showed  us  a  collection  of  letters  from  Peter  the  Great  to  Catherine 
I.  and  his  son  Alexis,  but  of  course  we  could  not  read  them. 

"There  is  a  kremlin,  or  fortress,  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  but  it  is  not 
of  great  consequence.  Near  it  is  a  tower  which  bears  the  name  of  Yaro- 
slav ;  in  this  tower  hung  the  Vec/tie  bell,  which  summoned  the  vechie,  or 
assemblage  of  citizens,  when  any  public  circumstance  required  their  atten- 
tion. We  tried  to  picture  the  gathering  of  the  people  on  such  occasions. 
In  the  day  of  its  greatness  Novgorod  had  four  hundred  thousand  inhabit- 
ants, and  its  assemblages  must  have  been  well  worth  seeing.  The  vechie 
bell  was  carried  off  to  Moscow  by  Ivan  III.,  and  many  thousands  of  the 
inhabitants  were  compelled  to  move  to  other  places.  For  a  long  time  it 
hung  in  a  tower  of  the  Kremlin  of  Moscow,  but  its  present  whereabouts 
is  unknown. 

"I  fear  that  a  further  account  of  our  sight-seeing  in  Novgorod,  so  far 
as  the  churches  and  monasteries  are  concerned,  might  be  wearisome,  as  it 
would  be  in  some  degree  a  repetition  of  the  description  of  the  cathedral ; 
so  we  will  drop  these  venerable  buildings  and  come  down  to  modern  times 
and  things.  The  most  interesting  of  modern  things  in  this  old  city  is  the 
Millennial  Monument,  which  has  been  mentioned  before. 

"The  monument  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  Empire,  and  some  of  the 
Russians  say  it  surpasses  anything  else  of  the  kind  in  their  country.  We 
could  not  measure  it,  but  judged  it  to  be  not  less  than  fifty  feet  from  the 
ground  to  the  top  of  the  cross  which  surmounts  the  dome,  forming  the 
upper  part  of  the  monument.  There  are  a  great  many  figures,  statues, 
and  high-reliefs,  which  represent  periods  of  Russian  history.     The  great 


THE   MILLENNIAL  OF   RUSSIA. 


227 


events  from  the  days  of  Rurik  to  Alexander  II.  are  shown  on  the  mon- 
ument, and  there  can  he  no  douht  that  the  work  is  highly  instructive  to 
those  who  study  it  carefully. 

"  The  monument  was  designed  by  a  member  of  the  Russian  Academy 
of  Sciences,  and  was  chosen  from  a  great  number  of  sketches  that  were 
submitted  for  competition.  The 
casting  of  the  bronze  was  done 
by  an  English  firm  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  the  expense  was  borne 
by  the  Government  and  a  few 
wealthy  citizens  of  Novgorod. 
As  is  usual  in  such  cases,  the 
Government  contributed  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  the  money." 

After  a  day  in  Novgorod  our 
friends  continued  their  journey 
to  Moscow.  They  returned  to 
the  main  line  of  railway  by  the 
branch,  and  waited  nearly  two 
hours  at  the  junction  for  the 
through  train  to  the  ancient  cap- 
ital. 

At  Valdai  the  youths  bought 
some  specimens  of  the  famous 
Valdai  bells ;  but  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  they  were  not  equal  to  what 
could  have  been  found  at  St. 
Petersburg  or  Moscow.  Fred 
recalled  their  purchases  of  speci- 
mens of  local  manufactures  in 
other  parts  of  the  world,  and  said 
the  same  rule  would  apply  everywhere.  The  tourist  who  buys  Toledo 
blades  at  the  railway-station  in  Toledo,  eau-de-cologne  at  the  famous  city 
of  the  Rhine,  bog -oak  jewellery  at  Dublin,  and  pate  de  foie  gras  at 
Strasburg,  may  generally  count  on  being  victimized. 

At  Tver  the  railway  crosses  the  Volga.  Frank  proposed  that  as  Tver 
is  the  head  of  navigation  on  that  great  river  they  should  leave  the  train 
and  float  with  the  current  to  Astrachan,  two  thousand  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  away.  Doctor  Bronson  said  a  steamer  would  be  preferable  to 
floating ;  besides,  they  would   have   quite  enough    of  the  Volga   if  they 


ImmmSi^:, 


MILLENNIAL    MONUMENT    AT    NOVGOROD. 

(From  Appleton's  American  Cyclopedia.) 


L'28 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


started  from  Nijni  Novgorod  and  avoided  the  navigation  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  stream. 

"And  while  we  are  on  the  subject  of  navigation,"  the  Doctor  added. 
"  please  bear  in  mind  that  by  means  of  a  system  of  canals  connecting  the 
lakes  and  rivers  between  this  point  and  St.  Petersburg,  there  is  unbroken 
water  transit  between  the  Volo-a  and  the  Neva.     Merchandise  can  be  car- 


RUSSIAN    BOATS. 


ried  in  boats  from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  Caspian  Sea  without  breaking 
bulk,  and  there  are  canals  connecting  the  Volga  with  the  Don  and  the 
Dnieper  rivers  in  the  same  way.  Russia  has  an  excellent  system  of  inter- 
nal communication  by  water,  and  it  was  doubtless  due  to  this  that  the  rail- 
ways in  the  Empire  are  a  matter  of  very  recent  date. 

';The  first  railway  line  in  the  Empire  was  from  St.  Petersburg  to 
Tsarskoe-Selo,  and  was  built  in  1S3S.  The  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow 
Railway  was  begun  in  1848,  and  down  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Nicholas 
less  than  three  thousand  miles  of  railway  were  completed  in  the  whole 
Empire.  Now  there  are  nearly  twenty  thousand  miles  in  operation,  and 
the  figures  are  increasing  every  year.  Nearly  fourteen  thousand  miles  be- 
long to  private  companies,  and  the  remainder  is  the  property  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. Some  of  the  companies  have  a  Government  guarantee  for  the 
interest  on  their  capital,  while  others  are  managed  just  like  private  rail- 
ways in  other  countries.'7 


ARKIVAL   AT   MOSCOW. 


229 


At  the  last  station  before  reaching  Moscow  passports  were  surrendered 
to  the  inspectors,  and  tickets  were  collected.  The  youths  put  their  hand- 
bags and  shawl-straps  in  readiness,  and  were  ready  to  leave  the  carriage 
when  the  train  rolled  into  the  huge  building  which  is  the  terminal  station 
of  the  line.  Our  friends  were  in  the  ancient  capital  of  Russia,  and  the 
home  of  many  Czars. 


|  ?|     m 


PORTRAIT    OF    CATHERINE   II.  IN    THE    KRE5ILIN    COLLECTION. 


230  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  MOSCOW.— UNDULATIONS  OF  THE  GROUND.— IRREGULAR- 
ITY OF  THE  BUILDINGS,  AND  THE  CAUSE  THEREOF.— NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN 
RUSSIA.— DISASTER  AND  RETREAT.— THE  BURNING  OF  MOSCOW.— THE  KREM- 
LIN: ITS  CHURCHES,  TREASURES,  AND  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATIONS.— ANECDOTES 
OF  RUSSIAN  LIFE.— THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  BASIL. 

FROM  the  railway-station  the  party  went  to  a  hotel  which  had  been 
recommended  as  centrally  situated  and  fairly  well  kept,  but  Frank 
and  Fred  said  they  should  be  cautious  about  praising  it  for  fear  that  those' 
who  came  after  them  might  be  disappointed.  The  hotels  of  Moscow  are 
hardly  equal  to  those  of  St.  Petersburg.  As  the  latter  is  the  capital  of 
the  Empire,  it  naturally  has  a  greater  demand  for  hostelries  of  the  highest 
class  than  does  the  more  venerable  but  less  fashionable  city. 

The  first  thing  that  impressed  the  youths  was  the  undulating  character 
of  the  ground  on  which  Moscow  is  built,  in  pleasing  contrast  to  the  dead 
level  of  St.  Petersburg.  The  streets  are  rarely  straight  for  any  great  dis- 
tance, and  were  it  not  for  the  inequalities  one  would  not  be  able  to  sec 
very  far  ahead  of  him  at  any  time.  But  every  few  minutes  a  pretty  view 
is  afforded  from  the  crest  of  one  ridge  to  another ;  the  depressions  between 
the  ridges  are  filled  with  buildings  scattered  somewhat  irregularly,  and 
there  is  a  goodly  number  of  shade-trees  in  the  yards  and  gardens  or  lining 
the  streets. 

St.  Petersburg  has  an  air  of  great  regularity  both  in  the  arrangement 
of  its  streets  and  the  uniformity  of  the  buildings.  Moscow  forms  a  marked 
contrast  to  the  younger  capital,  as  there  is  little  attempt  at  uniformity  and 
regularity.  You  see  the  hut  of  a  peasant  side  by  side  with  the  palace  of 
a  nobleman  ;  a  stable  rises  close  against  a  church,  and  there  is  a  carpen- 
ter's shop,  with  its  half-dozen  workmen,  abutting  close  against  an  immense 
factory  where  hundreds  of  hands  are  employed.  Moscow  is  a  city  of  con- 
trasts ;  princes  and  beggars  almost  jostle  each  other  in  the  streets ;  the 
houses  of  rich  and  poor  are  in  juxtaposition,  and  it  is  only  a  few  short 
steps  from  the  palace  of  the  Kremlin,  with  its  treasures  of  gold  and  jew- 
els, to  the  abodes  of  most  abject  poverty. 


THE   BURNING   OF   MOSCOW. 


231 


Frank  and  Fred  were  quick  to  observe  this  peculiarity  of  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  Czars,  and  at  the  first  opportunity  they  questioned  the 
Doctor  concerning  it. 

"  What  is  the  cause  of  so  many  contrasts  here  which  we  did  not  see  in 
St.  Petersburg?"  one  of  them  inquired. 

"  That    is    the   question  I  asked  on    my  first  visit,"  Doctor  Bronson 


STKEET    SCENE    IN    MOSCOW. 


replied.  "I  was  told  that  it  was  due  to  the  burning  of  Moscow  in  1812. 
at  the  time  of  its  capture  by  Napoleon." 

"  How  much  of  the  city  was  burned  ?"  Fred  asked. 

"  The  greater  part  of  it  was  destroyed,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  there 
were  many  buildings  of  stone  and  brick  that  escaped.  Most  of  the 
churches  were  saved,  as  the  Russians  were  reluctant  to  commit  the  sacri- 
lege of  burning  edifices  which  had  been  consecrated  to  religious  worship. 
Such  of  the  churches  as  were  consumed  in  the  conflagration  were  set  on 
fire  by  neighboring  buildings  rather  than  by  the  hands  of  the  Russians." 

"  Then  it  was  the  Russians  that  burned  Moscow,  and  not  the  French." 
said  Fred.  "  I  have  read  somewhere  that  it  is  all  a  falsehood  that  the 
Russians  consigned  their  city  to  the  flames." 

"  From  all  I  can  learn,  both  by  reading  and  conversation,"  answered 
the  Doctor,  "  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the  gen- 


232  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

erally  accepted  story.  Nai3oleon  arrived  here  on  the  15th  of  September, 
and  intended  to  spend  the  winter  in  Moscow  to  prepare  for  a  spring  cam- 
paign against  St.  Petersburg.  His  advance  under  Murat  came  in  one  day 
earlier.  As  soon  as  Napoleon  arrived  lie  took  up  his  quarters  in  the 
Kremlin,  while  his  troops  were  mostly  encamped  on  the  hills  which  over- 
look the  city  on  the  west. 

"On  the  night  of  the  16th  the  governor,  Count  Rostoptchin,  ordered 
the  city  to  be  set  on  fire — at  least  such  is  the  general  belief,  though  the 


BIVOUACKING    IN    THE    SNOW. 


Whlt^^— 


official  order  has  never  been  produced.  The  fire  broke  out  in  many  places 
at  the  same  time ;  the  French  soldiers  tried  to  suppress  it,  but  found  it 
impossible  to  do  so.  Nearly  twelve  thousand  houses  were  burned,  besides 
palaces  and  churches.  The  inhabitants  fled  to  the  country  in  all  directions, 
and  there  was  no  stock  of  provisions  for  the  support  of  the  French  army. 
"Napoleon  found  that  he  must  evacuate  the  city  and  return  to  France. 


THE   FRENCH   INVASION   OF   RUSSIA. 


On  the  19th  of  October  he  looked  his  last  on  Moscow  from  the  Sparrow 
Hills  on  the  west,  and  began  his  long  and  disastrous  retreat.  The  winter 
came  early,  and  was  unusually  severe.     Hardly  had  he  left  the  city  before 


BATTLE    BETWEEN    FRENCH    AND    RUSSIANS. 


the  ground  was  deep  with  snow,  and  from  that  time  onward  he  was  har- 
assed by  Cossacks,  while  his  men  perished  of  hunger  and  cold.  Do  you 
know  how  many  men  were  lost  in  the  Russian  campaign  of  1812?" 

"  Yes,"   said    Fred ;  "  I  have   just    been    reading   the    history  of   the 
campaign. 


231  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

"  According  to  the  narrative  of  the  Count  de  Segur,"  the  youth  con- 
tinued, "  the  army  with  which  Napoleon  invaded  Russia  comprised  four 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men.  Very  nearly  half  of  these  were 
French ;  the  other  half  consisted  of  Poles,  Italians,  Austrians,  Bavarians, 
Saxons,  and  other  troops  allied  with  the  French.  One  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  thousand  horses  were  employed  for  the  cavalry,  artillery,  and  bag- 
gage. There  were  eighty  thousand  cavalry  and  the  artillery  numbered 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-two  pieces.  There  were  great 
numbers  of  carts  and  wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  and  immense  herds  of  cattle 
driven  along  for  supplying  beef. 

"  Three  hundred  thousand  Russians  gathered  on  the  banks  of  the 
Niemen  River  to  oppose  the  French  advance,  but  the  river  was  crossed 
without  opposition.  There  was  a  battle  at  Smolensk,  and  another  at  Bor- 
odino, both  of  them  being  won  by  the  French.  At  the  battle  of  Borodino 
the  loss  on  both  sides  amounted  to  eighty  thousand  killed  and  wounded. 
After  that  the  Russians  made  no  serious  resistance.  Napoleon  entered 
Moscow  without  difficulty,  and  established  his  headquarters  in  the  Krem- 
lin, as  you  have  said.  On  the  battle-field  of  Borodino  is  a  monument 
with  this  inscription : 

"'NAPOLEON    ENTERED    MOSCOW    1812;    ALEXANDER    ENTERED    PARIS    1814.'" 

"  So  much  for  the  advance,"  the  Doctor  remarked  ;  "  now  tell  us  about 
the  retreat." 

"  It  was  one  of  the  most  terrible  retreats  ever  known  in  history.  Out 
of  all  the  Grand  Army  of  nearly  half  a  million  men  that  crossed  the 
Niemen  in  June,  1812,  a  little  more  than  twelve  thousand  recrossed  it  in 
the  following  winter!  It  "was  estimated  that  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  were  killed  in  the  various  battles  with  the  Russians,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  thousand  died  of  disease,  cold,  and  hunger,  and  not  far 
from  two  hundred  thousand  were  captured,  or  voluntarily  left  the  army 
and  remained  with  the  Russians.  Many  of  the  latter  died  within  the 
next  few  years,  and  others  settled  in  the  country  and  never  reached 
their  homes  again.  On  the  line  of  the  march  of  the  Grand  Army  their 
descendants  may  be  found  to-day  living  in  the  villages  where  their  fathers 
died,  and  thoroughly  Russian  in  their  language  and  habits.  The  Russians 
are  said  to  have  treated  their  prisoners  kindly,  and  doubtless  they  had 
orders  from  the  Government  to  do  so." 

Frank  asked  if  the  French  army  made  any  attempt  to  reach  St. 
Petersburg. 

"As  before  stated,  it  was  Napoleon's  intention,"  the  Doctor  answered, 


RETREAT  OF  THE  GRAND  ARMY. 


235 


"to  spend  the  winter  in  Moscow,  and  move  upon  St.  Petersburg  in 
the  spring.  But  the  burning  of  Moscow  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 
remain,  and  thus  his  plans  were  spoiled.  Eussia  refused  to  make  terms 
of  peace  with  him,  and  some  of  his  messages  to  the  Emperor  Alexander 
I.  were  not  even  answered.  The  Russians  doubtless  knew  that  cold  and 
hunger  would  compel  a  retreat,  and  they  could  rely  upon  the  winter  and 
the  Cossacks  to  make  it  disastrous. 

"  Russia  had  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Turkey,  which  would 
release  a  large   army  to  fight   against   the  French.      She  had  also  made 


NAPOLEON    RETREATING    FROM    MOSCOW. 


a  treaty  with  the  King  of  Sweden,  by  which  the  troops  of  the  latter 
would  join  the  Russian  army  early  in  the  spring,  as  soon  as  the  weather 
and  the  roads  would  permit  them  to  march.  It  was  certain  that  Napoleon 
would  be  overwhelmed  if  he  remained,,  and  the  only  alternative  was  the 
retreat. 


236 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


"  The  army  that  came  to  Moscow  was  ahout  one  hundred  thousand 
strong ;  all  the  rest  of  the  availahle  forces  of  the  Grand  Army  were  left  to 
garrison  places  on  the  road  to  the  Niemen  and  to  collect  provisions.  One 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men  crossed  the  bridge  at  Smolensk  in  the 
march  to  Moscow;  twenty  thousand  were  killed  on  the  road,  and  forty 
thousand  were  left  to  guard  the  magazines,  hospitals,  and  stores  at  some 
four  or  five  places.  The  terrible  waste  of  war  can  be  no  better  illustrated 
than  in  the  story  of  Napoleon's  campaign  to  Moscow.  At  Kovno,  in 
Lithuania,  is  a  monument  with  the  inscription  : 

'"napoleon    marched   through    here   with    700,000  men;  he   marched 

back  with  70,000. 

"And  now,"  he  continued,  "I  think  you  understand  why  Moscow  pre- 
sents so  many  irregularities  in  its  architecture.     In  the  spring  of  1813  the 

people  began  to  build  again, 
and  everything  was  done  in  a 
hurry.  Those  who  could  af- 
ford the  time  and  money  nec- 
essary to  build  good  houses 
were  the  few  rather  than  the 
many.  Most  of  the  Russians 
had  been  impoverished  in  the 
war,  and  could  only  afford  the 
cheapest  of  dwellings,  while 
those  who  had  not  lost  ev- 
erything were  desirous  of 
obtaining  shelter  as  soon  as 
possible.  The  custom  of 
that  day  has  continued  in  a 
certain  measure  to  the  pres- 
ent, as  you  can  see  by  look- 
ing around  you." 

For  a  knowledge  of  what 
•    our  friends  saw  in  Moscow 
we  will  refer  as  heretofore  to  the  journals  kept  by  the  youths,  together 
with  extracts  from  their  letters  to  friends  at  home. 

"  The  first  thing  we  wanted  to  see,"  said  Fred,  in  his  journal,  "  was  the 
Kremlin,  or  ancient  fortress  of  Moscow,  on  the  bank  of  the  river  Moskva, 
from  which  the  city  is  named.  We  saw  many  other  things  on  the  way 
there,  but  had  no  interest  in  them,  and  will  leave  their  description  to  a 


ALKXANDEU    I. 


THE   GATES   OF  THE   KREMLIN. 


237 


were 


all 


eyes, 


ears,  and  thoughts  for  the  Kremlin,  and 


Our  guide  told 


^M^khJiim- 


VIEW    IN    THE    KREMLIN. 


later  page.     We 
nothing  else. 

"  Nobody  can  tell  positively  what  the  word  '  kremlin '  comes  from,  but 
it  certainly  means  fortress  or  space  enclosed  with  strong  walls.  The  walls 
of  the  Kremlin  of  Moscow  are  about  one  mile  and  a  half  in  circuit,  and 
from  fifty  to  sixty  feet  high ;  they  are  entered  by  five  gates,  of  which  the 
principal  is  the  spasM,  or  'Redeemer.'  This  gate  was  built  in  1491,  and 
over  it  there  is  a  picture  of  the  Redeemer  of  Smolensk, 
us  we  must  remove  our  hats 
as  we  passed  through  this  gate- 
way, out  of  respect  for  the 
ways  of  the  people.  Formerly 
a  failure  to  do  so  was  severely 
punished,  but  now  there  is 
no  comjmlsion  about  it.  Not 
even  the  Emperor  is  exempt 
from  the  custom,  and  you 
may  be  sure  we  did  not  at- 
tract attention  by  our  neglect. 

"  It  was  in  front  of  this  gate  that  executions  formerly  took  place,  and 
the  victims  offered  their  last  prayers  to  the  Redeemer  of  Smolensk.  Hap- 
pily there  are  now  no  signs  of  these  executions,  and  everything  has  an  air 
of  peace  and  happiness.  The  gate  of  next  importance  is  the  Xikolsky,  or 
Nicholas  Gate,  which  is  ornamented  and  made  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  ortho- 
dox Russians  by  the  picture  of  St.  Nicholas  of  Mojaisk.  The  gate  was 
partly  destroyed  by  order  of  Napoleon  ;  a  large  quantity  of  gunpowder 
was  placed  under  it  and  fired,  but  the  explosion  only  split  the  tower  in  the 
middle  and  up  to  the  frame  of  the  picture.  The  glass  over  the  picture 
and  the  lamp  burning  in  front  of  it  were  not  harmed.  As  the  occurrence 
was  considered  in  the  light  of  a  miracle,  an  inscription  describing  it  was 
placed  there  by  Alexander  I. 

"  Another  gate,  called  the  Troitska,  or  Trinity,  is  memorable  as  the  one 
by  which  the  French  entered  and  left  the  Kremlin  in  1S12.  Several  times 
it  has  been  the  passage-way  of  conquering  armies.  Besides  the  French  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  it  admitted  the  Poles  in  the  seventeenth,  the  Tartars 
in  the  sixteenth  (1551),  and  the  Lithuanians  in  the  fourteenth  centuries. 
Only  a  small  part  of  the  Kremlin  was  destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  1812 ; 
it  was  held  by  Napoleon's  troops  when  the  fire  broke  out,  and  when  the 
invaders  retired  their  attempts  to  blow  up  the  walls  and  ignite  the  build- 
ings did  not  succeed. 


23S 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  After  looking  at  the  exterior  of  the  walls  and  admiring  the  pictur- 
esque situation  of  the  Kremlin,  we  passed  through  the  gate,  and  went  at 
once  to  the  tower  of  Ivan  Veliki  (John  the  Great).     We  had  been  advised 


A    PRISONER   ORDERED   TO    EXECUTION. 


to  see  this  tower  first  of  all,  as  it  was  the  best  point  from  which  to  obtain 
a  general  view  of  the  city. 

"There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  antiquity  of  the  tower,  but  it  is  gener- 
ally believed  to  date  from  the  year  1600,  and  to  have  been  built  by  Boris 
Godounoff.  It  is  in  five  stories,  of  which  the  upper  is  in  the  form  of  a 
cylinder,  while  the  others  are  octagonal  in  shape.  The  top  is  two  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  from  the  ground,  and  is  readied  by  a  winding  stair-way. 

"  The  guide  called  our  attention  to  the  bells  in  the  tower;  there  are  no 
less  than  thirty-four  of  them,  and  some  are  very  large.  In  the  second  story 
hangs  a  bell  known  as  the  'Assumption,''  which  weighs  sixty-four  tons;  it 
is  therefore  four  times  as  heavy  as  the  great  bell  of  Rouen,  live  times'  that 
of  Erfurt,  and  eight  times  as  heavy  as  the  Great  Tom  of  Oxford,  the  largest 
bell  in  England  !  The  oldest  of  the  other  bells  bears  the  date  1550  ;  the 
vechie  bell  of  Novgorod  the  Great  once  hung  in  this  tower,  but  nobody 
knows  where  it  is  at  present.  The  effect  of  the  ringing  of  these  bells  at 
Easter  is  said  to  be  very  fine,  as  they  are  of  different  tones,  and  so  ar- 


THE   KREMLIN. 


239 


240 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


ranged  that  they  make  no  discord.      In  the  upper  story  are  two  silver 
1  tells,  whose  tones  are  said  to  be  very  sweet. 

"  We  stopped  a  while  at  each  of  the  stories  to  look  at  the  bells  and  enjoy 
the  view,  and  thus  reached  the  top  without  much  fatigue.  But  if  we  had 
been  so  weary  as  to  be  unable  to  stand,  we  should  have  been  amply  repaid 
for  our  fatigue.  The  view  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  we  ever  had  from 
a  height  overlooking  any  city  in  Europe,  with  the  possible  exceptions  of 
Paris  and  Constantinople. 

"  Moscow,  with  its  undulating  and  irregular  streets,  with  the  Moskva 
winding  through  it    in   the   shape  of  the  letter  S,  with  its  four  hundred 

churches  and  an  immense  variety  of  towers 
and  domes  and  minarets,  with  the  variations 
of  palace  and  hovel  already  mentioned,  and 
with  the  great  buildings  of  the  Kremlin  form- 
ing the  foreground  of  the  scene,  lay  before 
and  below  us.  It  was  Moscow  (the  Holy), 
the  city  of  the  Czars  and  beloved  of  every 
patriotic  Russian  ;  the  city  which  has  existed 
through  Tartar,  Polish,  and  French  inva- 
sions; has  risen  from  the  ashes  again  and 
again  ;  has  been  ravaged  by  famine,  the 
plague,  and  the  sword  of  the  invader,  but 
surviving  all   her    calamities,  welcomes    the 


THE    GREAT    BELL    r.NDERGROl'ND. 


stranger  within  her  walls,  whose  circuit  is 
more  than  twenty  miles.  From  the  top  of  this  tower  we  looked  down 
upon  seven  centuries  of  historical  associations. 

"  Listen  to  a  fragment  of  the  histoiy  of  Moscow :  It  was  plundered  by 
the  Tartars  under  Tamerlane,  and  many  of  its  inhabitants  were  killed ; 
again  it  fell  into  Tartar  hands,  and  again  was  pillaged,  and  its  inhabitants 
murdered.  Twice  under  the  Tartars  (1536  and  1572)  it  was  set  on  fire, 
and  on  both  occasions  many  thousands  of  people  perished  by  fire  or  sword. 
The  Poles  burned  a  large  part  of  the  city  in  1611,  and  in  1771  the  plague 
carried  off  half  the  population.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Russians  love 
their  ancient  capita],  after  all  that  it  has  suffered  and  survived  ; 

"  We  lingered  for  an  hour  or  more  in  the  tower,  aud  then  descended. 
Our  next  object  of  interest  was  the  '  Czar  KoloktilJ  or  Great  Bell,  which 
stands  at  the  foot  of  the  Ivan  Yeliki  Tower,  and  near  the  place  where  for 
a  long  time  it  lay  buried  in  the  earth.  It  is  literally  the  great  bell  not 
only  of  Moscow  but  of  the  world. 

"  It  has  a  strange  history.     It  is  said  to  have  been  cast  originally  iu 


THE   GREAT   BELL   OF  MOSCOW. 


241 


the  time  of  Boris  Godounoff,  and  a  traveller  in  1611  mentions  a  bell  in 
Russia  which  required  twenty-four  men  to  swing  the  clapper.  During  a 
fire  it  fell  to  the  ground  and  was  broken  ;  in  1654  it  was  recast,  and 
weighed  at  that  time  288,000  pounds.  Twenty  years  later  it  was  sus- 
pended from  a  wooden  beam  at  the  foot  of  the  tower ;  the  beam  gave  way 
during  a  fire  in  1706,  and  the  bell  was  again  broken.  The  Empress  Anne 
ordered  it  recast  in  1733,  but  it  only  lasted  four  years.  The  falling  of 
some  rafters  in  1737  broke  the  bell  as  we  now  see  it,  and  it  lay  on  the 
ground  just  ninety-nine  years,  or  un- 
til 1S36,  when  it  was  raised  and 
placed  in  its  present  position  by  the 
Emperor  Nicholas. 

"  And  how  large  do  you  think  it 
is? 

"  It  is  thought  to  weigh  444,000 
pounds,  or  220  tons  ;  it  is  nineteen 
feet  three  inches  in  height,  and  sixty 
feet  nine  inches  in  circumference,  or 
twenty  feet  three  inches  in  diameter. 
Just  stop  and  measure  these  figures 
with  your  eye  in  a  barn  or  a  large 
room  of  a  house,  and  then  realize 
what  this  great  bell  is. 

"  Look  at  the  picture  of  the  bell, 
and  see  the  piece  that  is  broken  out 
of  it.  This  piece  is  six  feet  high, 
and  both  of  us  walked  through  the 
place  left  by  its  removal  without  an}' 
difficulty.  There  is  an  inscription 
on  the  bell  which  gives  its  history, 

and  it  presents  also  several  sacred  figures  and  the  portraits  of  the  Czar 
Alexis  and  the  Empress  Anne. 

"  From  the  Great  Bell  we  went  to  the  Nicholas  Palace,  which  occupies 
the  site  of  the  one  destroyed  by  the  French  at  the  time  of  their  retreat, 
and  then  to  the  Bohhoi  Dvorets,  or  Great  Palace. 

"The  state  apartments  are  numerous  and  gorgeous;  their  number  is 
absolutely  bewildering,  and  so  is  the  array  of  furniture,  paintings,  statu- 
ary, and  other  valuables  that  are  gathered  there.  In  the  Emperor's  cab- 
inet there  are  pictures  representing  the  battles  of  Borodino  and  Smolensk, 
and  also  of  the  French  entering  and  leaving  Moscow.     There  are  halls 

16 


VISITING    THE    UKEAT    BELL. 


242 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


dedicated  to  St.  George,  St.  Alexander  Nevski,  and  St.  Andrew,  all  of  them 


hung  with  battle-flags,  and  the  last — the  Hall  of  St.  Andrew- 


-containing 


the  Emperor's  throne.  In  some  of  the  halls  are  paintings  representing 
scenes  in  the  history  of  Poland.  They  were  brought  from  Warsaw,  where 
they  once  hung  in  the  Royal  castle. 

"  They  showed  us  the  '  Red  Staircase,'  which  is  used  by  the  Emperor 
on  state  occasions,  and  was  the  spot  where  in  former  times  the  Czar  al- 
lowed the  people  to  see  him.     Napoleon  and  his  marshals  ascended  these 

steps  when  they  took  pos- 
session of  the  Kremlin,  and 
it  was  from  the  top  of  the 
staircase  that  John  the 
Terrible  saw  the  comet 
which  caused  him  to  trem- 
ble with  fear. 

"Then  they  took  us  to 
the  banqueting-room,  where 
the  Emperor  dines  with  his 
nobles  immediately  after 
the  ceremony  of  corona- 
tion, and  beyond  it  to  the 
Terem,  which  was  formerly 
occupied  by  the  wife  and 
children  of  the  Czar.  It  is 
now  filled  with  articles  of 
historic  interest :  the  seals 
of  Russian  sovereigns,  the 
certificate  of  the  election 
of  Michael,  first  of  the  Ro- 
manoffs, to  the  Russian  throne,  and  several  copies  of  the  Evangelists,  on 
parchment,  and  said  to  be  five  hundred  years  old. 

"Near  the  Great  Palace  is  the  Treasury,  which  reminded  us  of  The 
Hermitage  of  St.  Petersburg,  or  the  more  famous  Tower  of  London.  It 
is  filled  with  all  sorts  of  curious  things,  many  of  them  of  enormous  value. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  national  debt  of  Russia  could  be  paid  from  the 
sale  of  the  pearls,  diamonds,  and  other  precious  things  in  the  Treasury  of 
Moscow.  Perhaps  this  is  not  strictly  true,  but  certainly  they  would  go  a 
long  way  towards  doing  so. 

"  What  we  saw  in  the  Treasury  would  take  too  long  to  tell ;  and  be- 
sides, it  would  be  a  catalogue  filling  many  pages  of  our  note-books.    Armor 


;?W,.-^ 


EMPRESS    AXXE. 


FLAGS   AND   CORONATION  CHAIRS. 


243 


and  weapons  of  all  times  and  forms  can  be  seen  here.  There  are  faded 
and  tattered  flags  that  tell  of  the  glory  of  Russia ;  here  is  the  flag  carried 
by  the  soldiers  of  John  the  Terrible  at  the  capture  of  Kazan;  the  flag 
under  which  Yermak  conquered  Siberia  and  added  it  to  the  Russian  Em- 
pire ;  the  flag  which  a  little  band  of  Cossacks  carried  to  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago ;  and  here  are  the  flags 
which  belonged  to  the  Regiment  of  Streltsi,  which  rebelled  against  Peter 
the  Great. 

"  Here  are  thrones  and  coronation  chairs  in  goodly  number.     The  first 
is  that  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  and  near  it  are  the  coronation  chairs  of 


;?*  { 


THE    EMPRESS    ELIZABETH. 


Paul  I.  and  Alexander  II.  In  the  centre  of  the  room  where  these  chairs 
are  standing  is  the  baldaehino,  under  which  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
walk  at  their  coronation,  and  at  the  farther  end  is  a  stand  of  colors  given 
by  Alexander  I.  to  his  Polish  regiment,  and  afterwards  captured  at  the 
storming  of  Warsaw,  in  1831.  The  royal  throne  of  Poland  is  in  another 
room,  along  with  the  throne  of  Kazan,  which  is  studded  with  pearls,  dia- 
monds, rubies,  and  turquoises,  as  are  several  other  thrones.     One  throne 


2JL4  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

contains  over  eight  hundred  diamonds  and  twice  as  many  rubies,  and  it  is 
by  no  means  the  most  costly  one  in  the  collection.  Near  the  thrones  are 
the  coronation  robes  worn  by  several  of  the  emperors  and  empresses,  and 
there  is  also  a  masquerade  dress  which  belonged  to  Catherine  the  Great. 

"  We  lingered  over  a  glass  case  containing  the  decoration  of  the  Order 
of  the  Garter  and  its  diploma,  which  Queen  Elizabeth  sent  to  John  the 
Terrible. 

"Another  gift  from  the  good  Queen  to  the  cruel  Czar  was  the  state 
carriage  which  stands  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  Treasury,  along  with 
several  other  vehicles,  all  of  the  olden  time.  One  is  on  runners,  and  large 
enough  for  a  whole  family  ;  it  has  a  table  and  benches  covered  with  green 
cloth,  and  was  used  by  the  Empress  Elizabeth  in  her  journeys  between  St. 
Petersburg  and  Moscow. 

"Enough  of  curiosities.  We  grew  weary  with  seeing  the  relics  of  the 
rulers  of  Russia,  though  all  were  full  of  interest,  and  willingly  followed 
our  guide  to  the  churches  that  stand  within  the  walls  of  the  Kremlin. 
The  first  is  the  Church  of  the  Assumption,  in  which  the  emperors  arc 
crowned,  and  where  the  patriarchs  formerly  officiated.  The  church  dates 
from  1475,  and  occupies  the  site  of  another  which  was  erected  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  earlier.  It  has  been  altered  and  restored  several 
times,  but  remains  very  much  in  shape  and  general  appearance  as  it  was 
four  hundred  years  ago. 

"In  the  church  is  a  shrine  of  silver  in  memory  of  St.  Philip,  a  patri- 
arch of  the  Church,  who  had  the  temerity  to  rebuke  John  the  Terrible  for 
his  misdeeds,  and  was  imprisoned  and  put  to  death  in  consequence.  The 
hand  of  St.  Philip  is  exposed,  and  whenever  the  Emperor  comes  here  he 
never  fails  to  kiss  the  sacred  relic. 

'•  There  are  tombs  and  shrines  in  great  number,  and  a  large  part  of  the 
religious  history  of  Russia  belongs  to  this  building.  Every  Czar  of  the 
Empire,  from  John  the  Terrible  to  Alexander  III.,  has  been  crowned  here, 
and  the  most  sacred  pictures  in  the  whole  country  are  deposited  along  the 
altar  screen. 

"  Dean  Stanley  says  of  the  Imperial  coronation  in  the  Church  of  the 
Assumption : 

" '  The  coronation,  even  at  the  present  time,  is  not  a  mere  ceremony, 
but  an  historical  event  and  solemn  consecration.  It  is  preceded  by  fast- 
ing and  seclusion,  and  takes  place  in  the  most  sacred  church  in  Russia, 
the  Emperor,  not  as  in  the  corresponding  forms  of  European  investiture, 
a  passive  recipient,  but  himself  the  principal  figure  in  the  whole  scene; 
himself  reciting  aloud  the  confession  of  the  orthodox  faith  ;  himself  alone 


INTERIOR  OF  THE   CHURCH  OF  THE  ASSUMPTION.  24-5 


CORONATION    OF    ALEXANDER    III. 


246 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


on  his  knees,  amid  the  assembled  multitude,  offering  up  the  prayer  of  in- 
tercession for  the  Empire ;  himself  placing  his  crown  on  his  own  head : 
himself  entering  through  the  sacred  door  of  the  innermost  sanctuary,  and 
taking  from  the  altar  the  elements  of  the  bread  and  the  wine.' 

"  There  are  two  other  cathedrals  in  the  Kremlin,  that  of  the  Archangel 
Michael  and  the  Cathedral  of  the  Annunciation.  The  three  cathedrals, 
with  the  tower  of  Ivan  Veliki,  which  has  a  chapel  in  its  lower  story,  form 

a  square,  which  is  frequently 
called  the  Grand  Square  of 
the  Kremlin.  "We  visited  the 
cathedrals  in  the  order  named, 
and  it  was  quite  appropriate 
that  when  we  had  finished 
with 'that  of  the  Assumption, 
where  the  Czars  are  crowned, 
we  should  go  to  the  Michael 
Cathedral,  where,  down  to  the 
time  of  Peter  the  Great,  they 
were  buried.  The  tombs  are 
quite  plain  in  appearance,  a 
marked  contrast  to  the  elabo- 
rate decorations  of  the  build- 
ing, whose  interior  is  covered 
with  frescos  which  represent 
peter  ii.  scenes  in  the  lives  of  the  Czars. 

together  with  their  portraits. 
"  One  of  the  tombs  was  covered  with  a  black  cloth,  and  we  asked  the 
guide  what  it  meant. 

" '  That  is  the  tomb  of  John  the  Terrible,'  said  he, '  and  the  black  cloth 
is  to  show  that  lie  assumed  the  cowl  of  a  monk  an  hour  or  so  before  he  died. 
He  wanted  to  atone  for  his  many  cruelties,  and  this  is  the  way  he  did  it.' 

"  The  guide  further  told  us  that  in  ancient  times  when  any  one  wished 
to  present  a  petition  to  the  Czar  he  came  to  this  church  and  placed  the 
paper  on  one  of  the  tombs.  By  a  long-established  custom  which  had  the 
force  of  law,  no  one  but  a  Czar  could  remove  it.  In  this  way  the  ruler 
could  be  reached  when  all  other  means  of  approaching  him  were  unavaila- 
ble.    What  a  pity  the  custom  does  not  continue  to  the  present  time ! 

"  The  only  emperor  buried  here  is  Peter  II.,  son  of  Alexis  and  grand- 
son of  Peter  the  Great.  As  before  stated,  the  Imperial  burial-place  has 
been  at  St.  Petersburg  since  that  city  was  founded. 


CUPOLAS  ON  RUSSIAN  CHURCHES. 


247 


"  While  the  Czars  were  crowned  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption 
and  buried  in  that  of  St.  Michael,  they  were  baptized  and  married  in  that 
of  the  Annunciation,  which  was  the  next  we  visited.  Its  floor  is  of  jas- 
per and  agate,  and  it  has  nine  cupolas,  heavily  covered  with  gilding.  The 
cross  on  the  centre  cupola  is  said  to  be  of  solid  gold — a  statement  open  to 
a  good  deal  of  doubt,  though  by  no  means  entirely  improbable  when  we 
remember  what  treasures  are  stored  in  the  Kremlin.  The  interior  of  this 
church  is  covered  with  frescos,  and  like  the  others  is  adorned  with  pict- 
ures set  in  precious  stones. 

"Mentioning  the  cupolas  of  this  church  reminds  us  that  the  cupolas  of 
the  Russian  churches  vary  all  the  way  from  one  up  to  thirteen,  the  num- 
ber being  nearly  always  odd.  Usually  they  have  five  cupolas ;  the  build- 
ing is  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross, 
and  there  is  a  cupola  at  each  cor- 
ner and  another  in  the  centre,  the 
latter  being  the  largest.  The  idea 
of  the  five  cupolas  came  from  Con- 
stantinople, whence  the  Russian 
Church  derived  its  religion.  The 
earliest  church  at  Novgorod  had 
five  cupolas,  and  was  copied  from 
the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  at  Con- 
stantinople, which  was  converted 
into  a  mosque  at  the  time  of  the 
Moslem  concpiest.  The  largest 
number  on  any  of  the  churches  of 
Moscow  is  on  that  of  St.  Basil, 
which  has  thirteen  in  all. 

"  There  are  other  small  church- 
es and  chapels  in  the  Kremlin,  but 
we  had  not  sufficient  time  to  ex- 
amine them  all.  In  the  sacristy 
of  the  Holy  Synod,  which  stands 
behind  the  Cathedral  of  the  As- 
sumption, we  saw  in  glass  cases  the 
robes    of    the    patriarchs    of    the 

Church,  some  of  them  dating  back  more  than  five  hundred  years.  They 
are  covered  with  pearls  and  all  kinds  of  precious  stones ;  one,  which  was 
presented  by  John  the  Terrible  to  the  metropolitan  Denys,  is  said  to 
weigh  fifty -four  pounds   in   consequence   of  the   great  number  of  dia- 


BISHOP    IN    HIS   ROBES. 


L'48  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

monds,  pearls,  emeralds,  garnets,  and  other  jewels  which  are  fastened 
to  it. 

"  The  attendant  left  us  quite  alone  in  the  room  with  all  these  valua- 
bles; the  guide  said  this  was  the  custom,  but  that  we  were  by  no  means 
out  of  sight.  Through  holes  in  the  ceiling  watchful  eyes  were  said  to  be 
peering,  and  any  attempt  to  open  the  cases  and  remove  the  valuables 
would  result  in  serious  consequences.  How  much  truth  there  was  in  his 
statement  we  do  not  know.  We  looked  at  the  ceiling,  but  could  not  see 
any  peep-holes,  but  for  all  that  they  may  have  been  there. 

"  You  wonder  how  it  happened  that  the  French  did  not  carry  away 
the  treasures  of  the  Kremlin  when  they  retreated  from  Moscow.  The 
fact  is,  most  of  the  treasures  were  removed  to  Nijni  Novgorod  as  the 
French  advanced,  and  when  they  arrived  there  was  not  a  great  deal  to 
plunder.  They  carried  off  many  things,  which  were  afterwards  recapt- 
ured by  the  Russians  during  the  retreat  and  restored  to  their  places,  but 
it  was  not  until  the  French  were  completely  out  of  the  country  that  the 
valuables  and  relics  which  had  been  carried  to  Nijni  Novgorod  were 
returned. 

"  The  invaders  hacked  at  some  of  the  frames  of  the  holy  pictures  in 
the  Church  of  the  Assumption,  and  the  marks  of  their  knives  are  still 
visible.  In  the  Cathedral  of  the  Annunciation  the  French  stabled  their 
horses,  and  the  other  churches  were  used  as  barracks  by  the  troops.  The 
Kremlin  was  mined  in  several  places,  but  the  explosions  did  very  little 
damage.  Probably  the  French  officers  who  had  charge  of  the  mining 
were  in  a  great  hurry  and  did  not  attend  properly  to  their  work. 

"  Our  guide  was  a  Russian ;  and  after  he  had  told  us  about  the  use  of 
the  cathedral  as  a  stable,  he  led  the  way  to  the  spot  where  the  cannon  capt- 
ured from  the  French  in  the  retreat  are  exhibited.  'There,'  said  he,  'are 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  cannon  which  were  captured  in  the  retreat 
of  the  Grand  Army  ;  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  of  them — one  for  every 
day  in  the  year — are  French,  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  are  Austrian, 
and  the  rest  are  from  the  various  troops  allied  with  the  French  at  that 
time.  Altogether  they  weigh  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  tuns.  A 
Frenchman  proposed  that  they  should  be  melted  down  and  cast  into  a 
memorial  column,  but  the  Russians  think  they  are  better  just  as  they  are." 

"  AVe  agreed  with  him  that  it  was  very  natural  a  Frenchman  should 
make  such  a  proposal  and  the  Russians  reject  it.  An  amusing  thing  is 
that  some  of  the  guns  bear  the  names  'Invincible,'  'Eagle,'  '  Conqueror," 
•Triumph,"  and  the  like,  quite  in  mockery  of  their  captive  condition. 

"Doctor  Bronson  said  he  was  reminded  of  an  incident  that  is  said  to 


MONSTER   CANNON. 


249 


have  happened  in  an  American  navy -yard  fifteen  or  twenty  years  after  the 
war  of  1812,  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

"An  Englishman  was  visiting  the  navy -yard,  and  while  wandering 
among  the  cannon  which  lay  peacefully  in  one  of  the  parks,  he  found  one 
which  bore  the  British  crown,  with  the  stamp  '  G.  K.'  beneath  it.  The 
stamp  and  crown  told  very  plainly  the  history  of  the  gun,  but  the  Briton 
was  doubtful.     Turning  to  a  sailor  who  was  standing  near,  he  remarked, 

"  '  It's  easy  enough  to  put  that  stamp  on  a  gun  of  Yankee  make.' 

" '  How  long  do  yon  think  it  would  take  C 

"  '  About  half  an  hour.' 


GREAT    GIN    AT    MOSCOW. 


"  '  Well,'  replied  the  sailor,  '  we  took  forty-four  of  those  guns,  with  the 
stamps  already  on,  in  just  seventeen  minutes.'* 

"  The  stranger  had  no  more  conundrums  to  propose. 

"  There  are  seven  monster  cannon  in  front  of  one  of  the  arsenals  in 
the  Kremlin  that  have  probably  never  enjoyed  the  honor  of  being  fired; 
certainly  some  of  them  would  be  likely  to  burst  if  filled  with  an  ordinary 
charge  of  powder.     The  smallest  weighs  four  tons  and  the  largest  forty 


*  Referriu<r  to  the  battle  between  the  Constitution  and  Guerriere,  Ausust  19.  1812. 


250 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


THE    CATHEDRAL    AT    MOSCOW. 

tons.  Some  of  them  are  unusually  long  in  proportion  to  their  diameter, 
and  others  are  exactly  the  reverse.  The  largest  was  cast  in  1586,  if  we 
may  believe  an  inscription  upon  it,  at  the  orders  of  the  Czar  Feodor;  but 
whether  it  was  intended  for  ornament  or  use  is  difficult  to  say.  It  is  re- 
markable as  a  piece  of  casting;  and  the  carriage  is  nearly  as  interesting  as 
the  gun.     We  enclose  a  photograph;  and  by  comparing  the  cannon  with 


THE   CHURCH   OF   ST.  BASIL. 


251 


the  figures  of  the  soldiers  seated  below  the  muzzle,  you  can  get  an  idea 
of  the  colossal  size  of  this  piece. 

"As  we  came  out  through  the  'Holy  Gate'  of  the  Kremlin  we  were  in 
front  of  the  Church  of  St.  Basil,  the  one  whose  architect  is  said  to  have 
been  blinded  by  order  of  John  the  Terrible,  to  make  sure  that  the  struct- 
ure should  not  be  duplicated.  It  stands  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  church 
where  St.  Basil  was  buried,  in  1552.  It  was  begun  in  1555,  and  is  said  to 
have  occupied  twenty  years  in  building. 

"  There  is  not  anywhere  in  the  world  a  more  fantastic  church  than 
this ;  none  of  its  towers  and  domes  resemble  each  other,  and  they  present 
all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  One  of  the  cupolas  is  striped  like  a  melon, 
while  another  suggests  a  pineapple ;  another  is  like  an  onion  in  shape  and 
general  appearance ;  another  suggests  a  turban  covered  with  folds ;  and 
still  another  might  readily  have  been  copied  from  an  artichoke.  The 
stripes  are  as  strange  as  the  forms,  and  the  irreverent  could  be  forgiven 
for  calling  this  the  Harlequin  Church  in  consequence  of  its  peculiar  archi- 
tecture. 

"  Napoleon  ordered  his  engineers  to  destroy  '  The  Mosque,'  as  he  called 
the  Church  of  St.  Basil,  but  for  some  unexplained  reason  the  order  was 
not  carried  out.  In  the  chapel  below  the  church  is  the  shrine  of  the  saint, 
but  it  presents  nothing  remarkable  ;  and  altogether  the  building  is  more 
interesting  from  an  external  than  from  an  internal  view." 


¥ 


^M^im^^M 


NAPOLEON'S    RETREAT    FROM    MOSCOW. 


252  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  GREAT  THEATRE  OF  MOSCOW.  —  OPERATIC  PERFORMANCES.  —  THE  KITAI 
GOROD  AND  GOSTINNA  DVOR.— ROMANOFF  HOUSE  AND  THE  ROMANOFF  FAM- 
ILY.—SKETCH  OF  THE  RULERS  OF  RUSSIA.— ANECDOTES  OF  PETER  THE  GREAT 
AND  OTHERS.— CHURCH  OF  THE  SAVIOUR.— MOSQUES  AND  PAGODAS.— THE  MU- 
SEUM.—RIDING  -  SCHOOL.— SUHAREFF  TOWER.— TRAKTIRS.— OLD  BELIEVERS.— 
THE  SPARROW  HILLS  AND  THE  SIMONOFF  MONASTERY. 

rI">IIE  best  part  of  a  day  was  consumed  in  the  Kremlin  and  in  the  Church 
-*-  of  St.  Basil.  Further  investigation  of  old  Moscow  was  postponed 
to  the  morrow. 

In  the  evening  our  friends  went  to  the  Opera-house  to  listen  to  some 
national  music,  but  more  particularly  to  see  the  house,  which  is  one  of  the 
curiosities  of  the  city.  The  " Bohhoi  Teatre,"  or  "Great  Theatre,"  is  one 
of  the  finest  opera-houses  in  the  world.  It  was  built  in  1855-56,  to  re- 
place the  smaller  opera-house  which  had  been  destroyed  by  fire  about  two 
years  before.  A  few  months  after  it  was  opened  there  was  a  performance 
in  the  theatre,  entitled  "1756  and  1S56,"  to  celebrate  the  hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  establishment  of  government  theatres  in  Russia. 

From  the  material  in  the  possession  of  the  youths,  and  by  a  careful 
use  of  eyes  and  note-books,  Fred  wrote  the  following  account  of  the  Mos- 
cow Opera-house,  and  added  to  the  information  about  theatrical  matters 
which  appears  in  a  previous  chapter. 

"The  first  recorded  representation  of  a  theatrical  character  in  Russia 
is  assigned  to  the  reign  of  Alexis  Michailovitch,  father  of  Peter  the  Great. 
It  was  given  in  the  house  of  the  father-in-law  of  Alexis,  but  very  little  is 
known  of  its  character.  Russian  writers  say  their  first  regular  dramas 
were  in  the  time  of  Feodor  Alexeivitch  (half-brother  and  predecessor  of 
Peter  the  Great),  and  were  written  by  the  Czar's  tutor.  They  were  pro- 
duced in  one  of  the  suburban  palaces,  and  had  a  religious  character,  as  we 
infer  from  the  titles  'Prodigal  Son,'  '  King  Nebuchadnezzar,'  'Three  Men 
in  the  Fiery  Furnace,'  and  'The  Golden  Calf.'  The  Czar's  tutor  was  a 
monk,  and  the  plays  were  performed  by  the  students  attached  to  the  mon- 
astery. 


EARLY   THEATRES   IN   RUSSIA. 


253 


"  Peter  the  Great  determined  to  develop  the  drama,  and  engaged  a 
Hungarian  actor,  who  happened  to  be  at  Moscow,  to  look  after  the  mat- 
ter. This  actor  went  to  Germany  and  engaged  a  troupe,  and  among  them 
was  a  man  who  divided  his  time  between  theatrical  affairs  and  ship-build- 
ing. When  he  was  not  ship-building  he  was  writing  plays  and  managing 
Peter's  theatre  at  Moscow,  and  he  seems  to  have  engaged  in  the  two  occu- 


DRESS    OF    PEASANTS SCENE    FROM    A    RUSSIAN    OPERA. 


pations  with  erpial  facility.  Peter  attended  the  performances  accompanied 
by  his  officers.  In  order  to  encourage  the  drama  there  was  no  admission 
fee,  the  company  being  supported  by  the  Government. 

"  At  first  the  performances  took  place  in  a  large  hall  of  the  Suhareff 
Tower.  After  a  time  a  wooden  theatre  was  built  near  the  Kremlin,  and 
performances  were  given  regularly.  The  City  of  Yaroslav  established  a 
theatre  of  its  own  under  the  direction  of  Feodor  Volkhoff,  an  actor  who 
afterwards  became  famous  in  Russia.  In  1752  he  was  summoned  to  St. 
Petersburg  by  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  to  direct  performances  at  the  court 
theatre,  and  in  1756  the  Empress  issued  an  Imperial  order  establishing  a 


254 


THE   BOY  TEAYELLEES   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EiJPIEE. 


government  theatre  in  the  capital.     The  centennial  of  this  event  was  the 
celebration  referred  to. 

"  The  Moscow  Opera-house  stands  in  a  square  by  itself  not  far  from  the 
Kremlin.     Carriages  can  be  driven  all  around  it,  and  there  are  three  en- 


.,.-__,, 


^afliii 


v^-v 


irf 


A  DRESSING-BOOM   OF  THE   OPERA-norSE. 


trances  for  spectators  besides  the  one  reserved  to  the  actors.  The  theatre 
is  never  crowded,  as  only  as  many  tickets  are  sold  as  there  are  seats,  and 
no  money  is  taken  at  the  doors.  There  are  five  rows  of  boxes  besides  the 
parquette,  or  ground-floor,  and  the  gallery,  which  occupies  the  whole  of 


BETWEEN  THE   ACTS. 


255 


the  upper  tier.  We  bad  our  places  in  the  parquette,  and  found  them  very 
comfortable.  Each  seat  is  a  separate  arm-chair,  with  plenty  of  space 
around  it,  so  that  one  may  walk  about  between  the  acts  without  disturbing 
his  neighbors. 


1  \\il  I!     J 

WORKING  THE    SHIP   IN    "  l'aFRICAINE." 


"  The  waits  between  the  acts  were  very  long,  according  to  our  Amer- 
ican ideas,  but  there  was  a  reason  for  this.  We  found  an  attendant  who 
spoke  French,  and  through  his  assistance  and  his  expectation  of  a  fee  we 
visited  an  unoccupied  box  on  one  of  the  principal  tiers.  The  box  had 
plenty  of  seating-room  for  half  a  dozen  persons ;  the  attendant  said  ten  or 


256  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

twelve  were  frequently  packed  into  it,  but  it  was  only  unfashionable  peo- 
ple who  ever  thought  of  thus  crowding  a  box.  Each  box  has  a  little  cabi- 
net or  parlor  back  of  it,  where  one  may  receive  friends,  and  a  great  deal  of 
visiting  goes  on  between  the  acts.  The  arrangement  is  an  Italian  one. 
and  the  same  feature  exists  in  opera-houses  in  other  parts  of  Europe. 

"  To  give  yon  an  idea  of  the  size  of  the  house,  let  me  quote  a  few  fig- 
ures comparing  it  with  the  principal  theatres  of  Milan,  Naples,  and  Lon- 
don.    The  measurements  are  in  English  feet : 

Diameter  of  ceiling.  La  Scala,  Milan 70 

San  Carlo,  Xaples 73 

Covent  Garden,  London 65 

Moscow  Opera-house 98 

Opening  of  proscenium,  La  Scala,  Milan 51 

"                  "        San  Carlo,  Naples 58 

"                 "        Covent  Garden,  London 50 

Moscow  Opera-house 70 

'"The  stage  of  the  Moscow  Opera-house  is  120  feet  wide  and  112  feet 
deep.    At  Covent  Garden  Theatre  the  respective  figures  are  8$  and  90  feet. 

"  We  had  a  great  deal  of  curiosity  to  see  the  famous  drop-scene,  which 
represents  the  triumphal  entry  of  Minin  and  Pojarsky  into  the  Kremlin, 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  Poles  from  Moscow  in  1012.  It  is  a  magnificent 
picture,  painted  by  Duzi,  a  Venetian  artist,  and  represents  the  two  libera- 
tors on  horseback  near  the  Holy  Gate  of  the  Kremlin,  surrounded  by  citi- 
zens of  all  classes  and  conditions.  Prince  Pojarsky  looks  like  an  Oriental. 
as  he  is  dressed  in  the  costume  which  was  worn  by  the  boyards  or  noble- 
men down  to  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  peasant  class  are  in  their 
holiday  dress  ;  the  women  wear  sarafans  and  hdkoshniks  which  are  quite 
like  those  worn  by  many  of  them  at  the  present  time,  while  the  men  arc 
mostly  in  girdled  caftans,  just  as  we  see  thousands  of  them  daily.  French 
fashions  have  taken  a  hold  among  the  nobility  and  wealthy  people  of  Rus- 
sia generally,  but  have  no  effect  on  the  peasantry.  The  common  people 
will  probably  adhere  to  their  present  costume  until  ordered  by  Imperial 
decree  to  adopt  a  new  one. 

"We  spent  nearly  the  whole  time  of  the  wait  between  the  first  and 
second  acts  in  contemplating  this  picture,  and  found  plenty  to  occupy  us. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  Minin  Pojarsky  Monument,  which  stands 
near  the  gate  of  the  Kremlin,  and  reminds  the  people  of  an  important  event 
in  their  national   history.     Between  the  monument  aud  the  painting,  the 


IN  THE   "KITAI   GOROD.' 


257 


Russians  are  not  likely  to  forget  the  patriotism  of  the  cattle-dealer  and 
the  Prince." 

From  the  theatre  our  friends  went  straight  to  the  hotel  and  to  bed, 
tired  enough  with  their  day's  exertions,  but  amply  repaid  for  all  their 
fatigue. 

Next  morning  they  were  off  in  good  season,  or  rather  Frank  and 
Fred  were,  as  the  Doctor  decided  to  remain  at  the  hotel,  while  the 
youths  devoted  the  forenoon  to 
sights  that  he  did  not  especially 
care  for.  Having  been  in  Moscow 
before,  he  was  willing  to  leave  some 
of  the  stock  sights  out  of  his  pro- 


Their  first  visit  was  to  the  ba- 
zaar, which  bears  the  name  of  "A7- 
tai  Gorod"  or  "  Chinese  Town/' 
The  bazaar  is  often  said  to  be  so 
called  because  of  the  great  number 
of  Tartars  doing  business  there — 
the  descendants  of  the  Mongols, 
who  so  long  held  Moscow  in  their 
hands. 

According  to  some  writers  this 
belief  is  erroneous.  They  assert 
that,  originally,  all  of  Moscow  was 
inside  the  Kremlin ;  but  as  the 
necessity  came  for  extending  the 
city,  an  order  was  given  by  Helena 
(mother  of  John  the  Terrible,  and 

Regent  during  his  minority)  for  enclosing  a  large  space  outside  the  Krem- 
lin, which  was  to  be  named  after  her  birthplace,  Kitaigrod,  in  Podolia. 
Its  walls  were  begun  in  1535  by  an  Italian  architect. 

"We  went,"  said  Frank,  ''through  the  Gostinna  Dvor  of  Moscow, 
which  tills  an  enormous  building  in  the  Kitai  Gorod,  and  is  in  some  re- 
spects more  interesting  than  that  of  St.  Petersburg,  though  practically  of 
the  same  character.  The  display  of  Russian  goods  is  about  like  that  in 
the  capital  city,  though  there  is  possibly  a  greater  cpiantity  of  silver  work, 
Circassian  goods,  and  similar  curiosities  peculiar  to  the  country.  Much 
of  the  money-changing  is  in  the  hands  of  Tartars  ;  where  the  changers 
are  not  of  the  Tartar  race,  they  are  generally  Jews.     Russian  Tartars  and 

17 


MININ-POJARSKF    MONUMENT. 


258 


THE    BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


Jews  use  the  abacus  in  counting,  and  they  work  it  with  wonderful  rapid- 
ity. We  saw  it  in  St.  Petersburg,  but  it  was  not  so  much  employed  there 
as  in  Moscow.  The  abacus  has  undergone  very  little  change  in  two  or 
three  thousand  years.  It  was  introduced  by  the  Tartar  conquerors  of 
Russia,  and  promises  to  remain  permanently  in  the  Empire. 

"  What  a  quantity  of  silks,  embroideries,  silverware,  and  the  like  are 
piled  in  the  bazaar !  and  what  an  array  of  clothing,  household  goods,  furni- 
ture, and  other  practical  and  unpractical  things  of  every  name  and  kind  ! 
It  was  the  Bazaar  of  St.  Petersburg  over  again,  with  the  absence  of  certain 
features,  that  suggested  Western  Europe  and  the  addition  of  others  be- 
longing to  the  Orient.     The  second-hand  market  was  encumbered  with 


1      " -f4i> 


PETElt  S    ESCAPE    FROM    ASSASSINATION. 


old  clothes,  pots,  pans,  boots,  furniture,  and  odds  and  ends  of  everything, 
and  we  were  so  pestered  by  the  peddlers  that  we  went  through  the  place 
pretty  quickly. 

"  The  guide  took  us  to  Romanoff  House,  which  was  built  near  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  was  the  birthplace  of  Michael,  the  first  Czar 
of  the  present  reigning  family.  Of  the  original  house  only  the  walls  re- 
main ;  the  interior  was  destroyed  by  the  French,  who  plundered  the 
building  and  then  set  it  on  fire,  and  only  the  great  thickness  and  solidity 
of  the  walls  preserved  them. 

"Romanoff  House,  as  we  saw  it  to-day.  is  an  excellent  example  of  the 


ROMANOFF   HOUSE.  259 

Russian  house  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  and  in  this  re- 
spect it  is  very  interesting.  The  last  restoration  was  made  in  1858-59,  and 
the  Government  has  spent  cpiite  an  amount  of  money  in  putting  it  in 
order. 

"  It  is  four  stories  high,  and  built  around  a  court-yard  from  which  the 
rooms  on  the  ground-floor  are  entered.  In  the  basement  are  cellars  for 
storing  provisions,  and  on  the  floor  above  it  are  the  kitchens,  temporary 
store-rooms,  and  the  like.  In  the  next  story  are  the  rooms  where  the 
prince  lived ;  they  include  a  reception-room,  rooms  for  servants,  several 
smaller  rooms,  and  also  some  secret  recesses  in  the  walls  where  silver  plate 
and  other  valuables  were  kept.  The  rooms  are  adorned  with  utensils  of 
former  periods,  together  with  many  articles  of  silver  and  other  metals  that 
belonged  to  the  Romanoff  family  long  ago. 

"  The  upper  story  is  called  the  terem,  a  word  which  is  equivalent  to 
the  Turkish  harem.  The  terem  was  reserved  to  the  women  and  children, 
but  not  so  rigidly  as  is  the  harem  among  the  Moslems.  Beds,  bedsteads, 
playthings,  and  articles  of  clothing  are  among  the  curiosities  in  the  terem 
of  Romanoff  House.  Among  them  are  the  slippers  of  the  Czar  and  the 
night-gown  of  the  Czarina,  which  are  kept  in  a  box  at  the  foot  of  the  bed 
accordins:  to  the  old  custom. 

"Romanoff  House  is  in  the  Ivitai  Gorod,  and  from  it  we  went  to  the 
place  where  Peter  the  Great  witnessed  the  execution  of  many  of  bis  re- 
bellious streltsi,  or  guards.     Perhaps  you  would  like  to  hear  the  story  \ 

"I  believe  we  have  already  mentioned  something  about  the  strained 
relations  between  Peter  and  his  sister  Sophia,  and  how  she  plotted  his  as- 
sassination, from  which  he  escaped  by  riding  away  in  the  night.  Peter 
shut  Sophia  in  a  convent  before  going  on  his  tour  to  Holland  and  Eng- 
land to  learn  the  art  of  ship-building  and  obtain  other  information  to  aid 
him  in  the  development  of  the  Russian  Empire.  He  distributed  his 
troops  in  the  best  way  he  could  think  of,  and  confided  the  administration 
of  affairs  to  his  most  trusted  officers. 

"  But  even  then  he  was  constantly  fearful  of  trouble.  He  knew  the 
ambition  of  his  sister,  and  the  opposition  that  many  of  the  old  nobility 
had  to  his  reforms,  and  he  was  well  aware  that  many  officers  of  the  army 
did  not  favor  his  plans.  Consequently,  when  news  of  the  rebellion  reached 
him  at  Vienna  he  was  not  entirely  unprepared,  and  hastened  homeward  as 
fast  as  horses  could  carry  him. 

"  The  conspiracy  included  many  nobles,  officers,  and  others,  together 
with  the  immediate  advisers  of  his  sister.  ■  The  clergy  were  on  the  side  of 
the  conspiracy ;  they  opposed  the  reforms,  and  preferred  keeping  things 


260 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


as  they  had  been,  rather  than  adopt  the  ways  of  Western  Europe.  It  is 
said  at  present  that  the  Russian  Government  would  change  the  calendar 
from  old  style  to  new  style,  and  make  it  conform  to  the  rest  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  but  for  the  opposition  of  the  Church.  The  priests  assert  that 
it  would  cause  a  great  deal  of  confusion  with  the  saints'  days,  and  there- 
fore they  refuse  their  approval  of  the  measure. 

"  The  streltzi  had  been  distributed  at  points  far  removed  from  Moscow. 
Under  pretence  of  coming  to  get  their  pay,  they  marched  to  the  city, 
where  they  were  met  by  General  Gordon,  an  English  officer  who  com- 
manded the  Government  troops  at  the  time.  Gordon  defeated  the  strelt- 
zi, and  then  by  torturing  some  of  the  prisoners  learned  the  history  of  the 
conspiracy.     It  was  to  place  Sophia  on  the  throne  in  place  of  Peter,  and  a 


AT-.,  ■ 


4iM 

mm* 

111    '*''fci.'*::' 


PETKR    TUE    GREAT    AS    EXECUTIONER. 


great  many  persons  were  implicated  in  the  scheme.  News  of  the  oc- 
currence was  sent  to  Peter  at  Vienna,  and  hastened  his  return  as  de- 
scribed. 

"  On  arriving  in  Moscow,  he  made  the  most  searching  inquiry,  and  by 
torturing  some  of  those  who  had  fallen  into  his  hands  he  obtained  the 
names  of  many  others.  There  is  no  doubt  that  innocent  persons  were  im- 
plicated, as  the  victims  of  torture  are  apt  to  tell  anything,  whether  true  or 
false,  in  order  to  escape  from  their  pain.  Those  implicated  were  immedi- 
ately arrested  and  put  to  death,  many  of  them  with  torture.    Nobles,  ladies 


BEHEADING  THE   INSURGENTS.  261 

of  rank,  officers  and  soldiers,  comprised  the  list.  On  the  spot  where  we 
stood  to-day  hundreds  of  the  streltzi  were  beheaded,  and  altogether  sev- 
eral thousands  of  people  were  killed.  Peter  himself  took  part  in  the  ex- 
ecutions, if  report  is  true.  Once,  at  a  banquet,  he  ordered  twenty  of  the 
prisoners  to  be  brought  in,  and  a  block  arranged  for  the  fearful  ceremon}'. 
Then  he  called  for  a  glass  of  wine.  After  drinking  it,  he  beheaded  the 
victim,  who  had  been  placed  on  the  block,  and  then  he  called  for  an- 
other victim  and  another  glass  of  wine.  It  is  said  that  he  was  just  one 
hour  in  performing  the  twenty  executions  ;  and  after  he  had  finished  he 
went  in  person  to  the  great  square  in  front  of  the  Kremlin,  where  other 
executions  were  going  on. 

"While  he  was  witnessing  one  of  these  executions,  one  of  the  prison- 
ers who  was  about  to  lose  his  head  came  forward  as  coolly  as  though  he 


CATHEI1I.SK 


were  entering  a  dining-hall.     '  Make  way  for  us,'  he  said,  as  he  kicked  the 
fallen  heads  from  his  path — '  make  way  here,  make  way.' 

"  Just  as  the  man  lay  down  upon  the  block  and  the  executioner  raised 
his  axe,  Peter  ordered  the  prisoner  to  be  liberated.  He  pardoned  him  on 
the  spot,  remarking  that  there  wTas  good  stuff  in  a  man  who  could  walk  so 


2(32  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE    RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

gallantly  to  his  own  execution.  Peters  prediction  was  correct ;  and  who 
do  yon  suppose  the  man  was? 

"  His  name  was  Orloff.  lie  was  a  faithful  adherent  of  Peter  for  the 
rest  of  his  life,  and  rose  to  the  command  of  his  armies.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  Orloff  family,  which  has  ever  since  been  prominent .  in 
Russian  matters,  and  continues  so  down  to  the  present  day.  Various 
members  of  the  family  have  been  distinguished  in  land  and  naval  warfare, 
and  in  diplomacy  and  home  affairs.  One  of  them  was  the  intimate  friend 
and  adviser  of  Catherine  II.  He  was  a  man  of  gigantic  stature  and  great 
personal  courage,  and  is  said  to  have  strangled  with  his  own  hands  the 
unfortunate  emperor  Peter  III.,  in  order  to  place  the  disconsolate  widow 
Catherine  on  the  throne. 

"  Catherine  II.  should  not  be  confounded  with  Catherine  I.  It  was 
Catherine  II.,  surnamed  '  The  Great,'  to  whom  I  have  just  referred,  as 
the  conspirator  who  gained  the  throne  by  the  murder  of  her  husband. 
Catherine  I.  was  the  widow  of  Peter  the  Great,  and  mother  of  the  Em- 
press Elizabeth.  She  had  great  influence  over  the  founder  of  the  Empire, 
and  though  not  always  controlling  his  violent  temper,  she  did  much  tow- 
ards suppressing  it  on  many  occasions. 

"  While  we  are  in  sight  of  Romanoff  House  let  us  run  over  the  list  of 
those  who  have  held  the  throne  since  the  first  of  this  family  ascended  it. 
Here  they  are : 

"   1.  Michael  Feodorovitch  (first  of  the  Romanoffs). 

"   2.  Alexis  Mikailovitch  (son  of  Michael). 

' '   3.  Feodor  Alexeivitch  (son  of  Alexis). 

' '   4.  Ivan  Alexeivitch  (brother  of  No.  3). 

"   5.  Peter  Alexeivitch  (Peter  I.,  or,  "The  Great  "). 

"   6.  Catherine  I.  (widow  of  Peter  I.). 

"   7.  Peter  II.  (grandson  of  Peter  I.). 

"   8.  Anna  (niece  of  Peter  I.). 

"   9.  Ivan  III.  (imprisoned  in  his  infancy,  and  afterwards  assassinated). 

"10.  Elizabeth  (daughter  of  Peter  I.). 

"11.  Peter  III.  (great-grandson  of  Peter  I.). 

"  12.  Catherine  II. 

"  13.  Paul  I.  (son  of  Catherine  II.). 

"  14.  Alexander  I.  (son  of  Paul  I.). 

"  15.  Nicholas  I.  (brother  of  Alexander  I.). 

"  16.  Alexander  II.  (son  of  Nicholas  I.). 

"17.  Alexander  III.  (son  of  Alexander  II.). 

"  It  is  a  circumstance  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  thirty-seven  years 
between  the  death  of  Peter  the  Great  and  the  accession  of  Catherine  the 
Great,  Russia  had   three   emperors    and   three    empresses;    the    emperors 


DESPOTISM    TEMPERED   BY  ASSASSINATION. 


263 


reigned,  but  cannot  be  said  to  have  ruled,  only  three  and  a  half  years 
altogether,  while  the  empresses  held  the  throne  for  the  rest  of  the  time. 
Catherine  was  Empress  from  1762  till  1796 ;  so  that  during  the  eigh- 
teenth century  the  Russian  crown  was  worn  by  women  for  nearly  seventy 
years. 

"  The  heir  to  the  throne  at  present  is  too  young  to  have  made  his  marls 
in  any  way ;  and  besides,  he  has  had  no  opportunity,  even  if  he  were  of 
age.     His  name  is  Nicholas;  he  is  the  eldest  son  of  Alexander  III.,  and 
when  he  ascends  the  throne 
he  will  be  known  as  Nich- 
olas II.     He  was  born  in 
1868,  and  is  said  to  be  a 
young  man  of  great  prom- 
ise. 

"  Four  at  least  of  the 
seventeen  rulers  named 
above  were  murdered,  and 
there  were  suspicions  of 
poisoning  in  the  cases  of 
two  others.  Consequently 
the  description  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Russia  as  '  des- 
potism tempered  by  assas- 
sination '  is  not  so  very  far 
from  the  truth. 

"  It  is  sometimes  said 
that  the  Romanoff  family 

is  more  German  than  Russian,  in  consequence  of  the  marriages  of  the 
emperors  with  German  princesses.  Peter  the  Great  was  pure  Russian ; 
his  son  Alexis,  father  of  Peter  II.,  married  a  German  princess,  and  their 
daughter  Anne  married  a  German  duke.  Anne  and  the  German  duke 
were  the  parents  of  Peter  III.,  the  husband  of  Catherine  II. ;  Peter  III. 
and  Catherine  were  the  parents  of  Paul,  who  married  a  German  prin- 
cess, and  the  example  has  been  followed  by  all  the  emperors.  The  Rus- 
sian poet  Pushkin  used  to  represent  in  an  amusing  way  the  Germanizing 
of  the  Imperial  family,  which  was  as  follows  : 

"He  placed  in  a  goblet  a  spoonful  of  wine  for  the  Czarevitch  Alexis 
and  a  spoonful  of  water  for  his  German  wife.  Then  he  added  a  spoonful 
of  water  for  Anne's  German  husband,  a  third  for  Catherine  II.,  and  a 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  for  the  German  wives  of  Paul,  Nicholas,  and  Alex- 


CATUKRINE    II. 


264 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


ander  IT.  ~\Xere  the  poet  alive  to-day,  lie  would  add  a  seventh  for  the 
Danish  wife  of  Alexander  III.,  and  an  eighth  for  the  wife  of  the  young 
Nicholas,  whoever  she  may  be. 

"  However  little  Russian  blood  may  be  running  at  present  in  the 
veins  of  the  Romanoff  family,  there  is  no  question  about  the  thoroughly 

Russian  character  of  the 
persons  most  concerned. 
Born  and  bred  in  Russia, 
it  would  be  strange  if  the 
men  were  otherwise  than 
national  in  their  feelings; 
and  as  for  the  women  who 
have  been  married  into  the 
Imperial  family,  they  seem 
to  have  left  everything 
behind  them  when  they 
came  to  make  their  homes 
in  Muscovy.  There  was 
never  a  more  thorough 
Russian  than  Catherine  II. 
When  she  came  to  the 
Imperial  court  at  the  age 
of  fifteen  she  immediately 
went  to  work  to  learn  the 
language,  and  in  after-life 
she  used  to  say  that  if  she  knew  of  a  drop  of  blood  in  her  veins  that  had 
not  become  Russian  she  would  have  it  drawn  out. 

"  Before  becoming  the  wives  of  the  men  of  the  Imperial  family,  all 
foreign  princesses  must  be  baptized  and  taken  into  the  Russian  Church. 
The  ceremony  is  a  very  elaborate  one,  and  is  made  a  state  affair.  The 
members  of  the  Imperial  family  are  present,  together  with  many  high 
officials,  who  appear  as  witnesses,  and  there  can  be  no  exceptions  to  the 
rule  that  requires  the  Emperor's  bride  to  be  of  his  religion.  Family, 
home,  religion,  everything  must  be  given  up  by  the  woman  who  is  to 
become  an  Empress  of  Russia. 

"  Well,  we  will  leave  Romanoff  House  and  the  Kitai  Gorod,  and  go  to 
see  something  else.  Our  guide  suggests  the  Church  of  the  Saviour,  which 
has  only  recently  been  completed.  It  was  built  to  commemorate  the  retreat 
of  the  French  from  Moscow.  Our  guide,  whose  arithmetic  is  a  good  deal 
at  fault,  says  they  have  been  working  at  it  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 


GRAND-DUKE    .NICHOLAS    ALKXA.NDKOUTCII. 


CHURCHES,  MUSEUM,  AND  RIDING-SCHOOL.  265 

"  Though  not  so  quaint  as  the  churches  we  have  seen,  it  is  certainly 
the  finest  in  the  city.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  and  the  central 
cupola,  eighty-four  feet  in  diameter,  rises  three  hundred  and  forty-three 
feet  above  the  ground.  In  front  of  the  church  there  are  statues  of  the 
Russian  generals  of  the  early  part  of  the  century ;  the  outside  is  adorned 
with  bronze  reliefs,  which  are  strangely  divided  between  Scriptural  sub- 
jects and  the  war  of  1812.  The  interior  of  the  building  is  finished  with 
highly  polished  porphyry,  lapis-lazuli,  and  other  costly  stones,  and  there  is 
a  profusion  of  paintings  ornamenting  the  walls.  We  spent  half  an  hour 
or  more  at  the  church,  and  were  loath  to  leave  it. 

"  In  addition  to  its  many  churches  of  the  Greek  faith,  Moscow  is  like 
St.  Petersburg  in  containing  churches  representing  all  the  religions  of  a 
Christian  city,  together  with  synagogues  for  the  Jews  and  mosques  for 
the  Tartars.  Some  Chinese  who  once  lived  in  Moscow  had  a  pagoda, 
where  they  worshipped  idols  as  in  their  own  country,  but  our  guide  says 
there  are  no  Chinese  here  at  present.  Of  course  we  had  not  sufficient 
time  for  visiting  all  the  churches  of  Moscow,  and  told  the  guide  to  take 
us  only  to  those  which  were  really  remarkable.  We  saw  perhaps  a  dozen 
in  addition  to  those  I  have  named.  They  were  interesting  to  us  who  saw 
them,  but  I  omit  a  description  lest  it  might  prove  tedious. 

"We  went  to  the  Museum,  which  has  a  library  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  volumes,  a  collection  of  minerals,  and  a  great  number  of 
paintings,  engravings,  and  similar  things.  It  did  not  impress  us  as  much 
as  did  the  Museum  of  St.  Petersburg,  but  perhaps  this  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  we  were  a  good  deal  wearied  after  our  long  hours  of  sight-seeing,  and 
were  more  desirous  of  a  rest  than  anything  else. 

"  One  of  the  curiosities  of  the  place  was  a  skinned  and  stuffed  man 
in  a  glass  case.  It  reminded  us  of  the  cases  in  which  the  dress-makers 
exhibit  the  latest  styles  of  feminine  apparel ;  and  the  figure,  though  dead, 
was  more  '  life-like '  than  the  wax  models  to  which  we  are  accustomed. 
It  is  the  real  skin  of  a  man  who  once  lived  and  moved  and  was  of  goodly 
stature. 

"  From  the  Museum  we  went  to  the  Manege,  or  riding-school,  which 
is  claimed  to  be  the  largest  building  in  the  world  without  any  supporting 
pillars.  Look  at  the  figures  of  its  measurement :  length,  560  feet ;  width, 
158  feet ;  height,  42  feet. 

"Perhaps  some  of  the  great  railway -stations  of  Europe  or  America 
can  surpass  these  measurements,  but  we  certainly  don't  know  of  one  that 
can.  The  space  is  large  enough  for  two  regiments  of  cavalry  to  perform 
their  evolutions ;  and  in  the  winter  season,  when  the  weather  is  too  severe 


•2Q6 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IX  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


for  out-door  exercise,  this  riding-school  is  in  constant  use.  It  is  heated 
by  stoves  ranged  around  the  sides  of  the  room,  and  is  ornamented  with 
numerous  trophies  of  war,  and  representations   of  men  in  armor.     The 

roof  is  low  and  rather  flat,  and 
even  when  the  sun  is  shining 
the  'light  is  poor. 

"  The  Suhareff  Tower,  to 
which  we  next  went,  was  chief- 
ly interesting  as  a  reminder  of 
Peter  the  Great.  At  present 
it  is  utilized  as  a  reservoir  for 
supplying  the  city  with  water, 
and  it  performs  its  duty  very 
well.  It  was  formerly  the 
north-western  gate  of  the  city, 
and  a  regiment  of  streltzi  was 
kept  here  under  command  of 
Colonel  Suhareff.  "When  the 
streltzi  revolted,  in  1682,  Su- 
hareffs  regiment  remained 
faithful,  and  escorted  Peter  and 
his  mother  and  brother  to  the 
Troitsa  Monastery. 

••  In  grateful  remembrance 
for  their  devotion,  Peter  caused 
this  tower  to  be  built  and 
named  after  the  colonel  who 
commanded  at  the  time.  The 
architect  tried  to  make  some- 
thing resembling  a  ship,  but 
did  not  succeed  very  well.  Peter  used  to  have  secret  councils  of  state 
in  this  tower,  and  it  was  here  that  comedies  were  performed  in  1771  by 
the  first  troupe  of  foreign  actors  that  ever  came  to  Russia.  It  is  also 
said—" 

Here  the  journal  stopped  rather  abruptly.  Frank  and  Fred  were 
summoned  to  go  to  the  "Troitska  Traktir"  for  dinner,  and  as  they  were 
both  hungry  and  curious  the  journal  was  laid  aside. 

"We  have  had  the  description  of  a  Russian  dinner  in  the  account  of 
what  they  saw  in  St.  Petersburg.  The  dinner  in  Moscow  was  much  like 
the   one   already  described,   but    the   surroundings  were   different.     The 


SKINNED    AND    STUFFED    MAN. 


THE   "MOSKOVSKI  TKAKTIK." 


267 


waiters  were  in  snowy  frocks  and  trousers,  and  the  establishment  was  so 
large  that  it  was  said  to  employ  one  hundred  and  fifty  waiters  in  the 
dining  and  tea  rooms  alone. 

Many  of  the  patrons  of  the  place  were  taking  nothing  but  tea,  and  the 
samovar  was  everywhere.  Frank  and  Fred  thought  they  had  never  seen 
waiters  more  attentive  than  at  this  traktir.  They  seemed  to  understand 
beforehand  what  was  wanted,  and  a  single  glance  was  sure  to  bring  one 
of  them  to  the  table.  They  did  a  great  deal  more  than  the  waiters  do 
in  Western  Europe.  They  offered  to  cut  up  the  food  so  that  it  could  be 
eaten  with  a  fork,  and  they  poured  out  the  tea,  instead  of  leaving  the 
patron  to  pour  for  himself.     Frank  observed  that  nearly  every  one  who 


RUSSTAH    BEGGARS. 


entered  the  place  said  his  prayers  in  front  of  the  holy  picture.  There  is 
a  picture  in  every  room  of  the  establishment,  so  that  the  devout  wor- 
shipper is  never  at  a  loss. 

Another  day  they  went  to  the  ' u  Moskovski  Traktir"  a  large  restaurant 
similar  to  the  Troitska,  and  containing  an  enormous  organ  which  is  said 
to  have  cost  more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  Russians  are  very  fond 
of  music  of  the  mechanical  sort,  and  their  country  is  one  of  the  best  mar- 
kets of  the  Swiss  makers  of  organs  and  music-boxes.  In  the  best  houses 
all  through  Russia  expensive  instruments  of  this  kind  can  be  found,  and 


26S  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

sometimes  the  barrel-organs  are  large  enough  to  fill  a  respectably-sized 
room  with  machinery  and  fittings,  and  an  entire  house  with  sound.  Prob- 
ably the  most  costly  mechanical  musical  instruments  are  made  for  Rus- 
sians, and  some  of  them  give  the  effect  of  a  whole  orchestra.  While  the 
instrument  in  the  traktir  was  in  operation,  both  the  youths  said  they 
could  have  easily  believed  the  music  to  have  been  produced  by  a  dozen 
skilled  performers. 

As  they  left  the  Moskovski  Traktir  the  guide  suggested  that  they 
would  go  to  the  restaurant  of  the  Old  Believers.  Fred  thus  describes  the 
visit : 

"  I  must  begin  by  saying  that  the  Old  Believers  are  a  Russian  sect  who 
prefer  the  version  of  the  Bible  as  it  was  up  to  the  time  of  Nikon,  rather 
than  the  one  he  introduced.  The  Government  persecuted  them  greatly  in 
past  times,  and  even  at  present  they  are  subjected  to  many  restrictions. 
They  are  scattered  through  the  Empire,  and  are  said  to  number  several 
millions,  but  the  exact  statistics  concerning  them  are  unattainable. 

"  In  addition  to  their  adhesion  to  the  old  form  of  the  Scriptures  they 
abhor  smoking,  refuse  to  shave  their  beards,  attach  particular  sanctity  to 
old  ecclesiastical  pictures,  and  are  inveterate  haters  of  everything  not 
thoroughly  Russian.  They  despise  the  manners  and  customs  of  Western 
Europe,  which  they  consider  the  synonyme  of  vices,  and  associate  as  little 
as  possible  with  those  who  do  not  share  their  belief.  In  the  country  they 
form  communities  and  villages  by  themselves,  and  in  the  cities  they  live 
in  the  same  quarter  as  much  as  possible.  They  are  an  honest,  industrious 
people,  and  thoroughly  loyal  subjects  of  the  Emperor. 

"  In  the  traktir  of  the  Old  Believers  we  found  the  waiters  wearing 
dark  caftans  instead  of  white  ones,  and  the  room  was  filled  with  Russians 
of  noticeably  long  beards.  Smoking  is  not  allowed  here  under  any  circum- 
stances; and  as  nearly  all  Russians  who  are  not  Old  Believers  are  con- 
firmed smokers,  this  curious  sect  has  the  place  all  to  itself.  We  were 
politely  treated  by  the  waiters,  and,  at  the  advice  of  the  guide,  ventured 
to  eat  a  blinni,  for  which  the  place  is  famous.  It  was  so  good  that  we  re- 
peated the  order.  Of  course  we  had  the  inevitable  samovar,  and  found 
the  tea  the  best  that  any  restaurant  has  thus  far  supplied.  This  traktir 
lias  an  excellent  reputation  for  its  tea  and  cookery  ;  the  bill  of  fare  is  not 
large,  but  everything  is  of  the  best  kind. 

"  There  is  a  Tartar  restaurant  where  horse-flesh  is  said  to  be  served 
regularly  ;  but  whether  this  is  true  or  not  we  did  not  try  to  find  out.  The 
place  is  kept  by  a  Russian,  so  that  the  assertion  is  open  to  some  doubt. 
Any  one  can  go  to  the  Tartar  restaurant,  but  it  is  not  frequeuted  by  Rus- 


TARTARS   OF  MOSCOW. 


269 


sians.  The  Tartars  do  not  associate  freely  with  the  Russians,  though  there 
is  no  hostility  between  them.  They  seclude  their  wives  after  the  Moslem 
fashion,  and  a  Russian  gentleman  tells  me  that  he  has  rarely  had  a  glimpse 


TARTAR    COFFEE-HOUSE    IN    SOUTHERN   RUSSIA. 


of  a  Tartar  woman,  though  he  has  lived  near  these  people  ever  since  he  was 
born." 

For  a  general  view  of  Moscow  our  friends  took  a  drive  to  the  Sparrow 
Hills,  the  spot  whence  Napoleon  took  his  first  and  also  his  last  look  upon 
the  city  he  came  so  far  to  conquer. 

On  the  way  thither  they  stopped  at  the  Gardens,  which  are  the  property 
of  the  Galitsin  family,  and  also  at  a  small  palace  or  villa  which  is  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Empress.  These  interruptions  delayed  them,  so  that  it  was  near 
sunset  when  they  reached  the  Sparrow  Hills  and  had  the  city  in  full  view. 
As  they  looked  at  the  sunlight  reflected  from  the  hundreds  of  gilded 
domes,  and  the  great  city  spread  over  the  undulating  ground,  they  realized 
what  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  the  French  soldiers  as  they  gazed 
upon  Moscow  after  their  long  and  perilous  journey  to  the  heart  of  Russia. 


270 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


There  is  still  higher  ground  from  which  to  look  upon  the  city  at  the 
Simonoff  Monastery,  which  has  a  belfry  more  than  three  hundred  feet 
high.  The  monastery  dates  from  1390.  It  was  once  the  most  important 
church  establishment  in  Russia,  and  possessed  immense  areas  of  land  and 
as  many  as  twelve  thousand  serfs.  It  was  earnestly  defended  against  the 
Poles  in  1612,  but  was  captured  and  plundered  by  them.  It  was  a  quaran- 
tine hospital  in  the  plague  of  1771,  and  a  military  one  from  17SS  to  1705. 

The  French  burned  several  of  its  buildings,  but  they  were  soon  restored. 
The  extent  of  the  place  will  be  understood  when  it  is  known  that  there  are 
six  churches  inside  the  walls.  Our  friends  passed  some  time  there  looking 
at  the  antique  silver,  gold,  and  other  ornaments,  and  the  costly  vestments  . 
which  have  been  handed  down  from  ancient  times.  They  climbed  to  the 
top  of  the  belfry,  and  had  a  view  of  the  city  which  they  are  not  likely  to 
forget  immediately. 

The  visit  to  the  Simonoff  Monastery  was  a  preliminary  to  an  excursion 
to  the  Troitska  Monastery,  which  will  be  described  in  the  next  chapter. 


GALLlittY    IN    THE    PALACE. 


AN  ANCIENT  MONASTERY.  271 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  TROITSKA  MONASTERY,  AND  WHAT  WAS  SEEN  THERE.— CURIOUS 
LEGENDS.  —  MONKS  AT  DINNER.  —  EUROPEAN7  FAIRS.  —  THE  GREAT  FAIR  AT 
NIJNI  NOVGOROD.— SIGHTS  AND  SCENES.— MININ'S  TOMB  AND  TOWER— DOWN 
THE  VOLGA  BY  STEAMBOAT.— STEAM  NAVIGATION  ON  THE  GREAT  RIVER.— 
KAZAN,  AND  WHAT  WAS  SEEN   THERE.— THE  ROUTE  TO  SIBERIA. 

r|MIE  Troitska  (Trinity)  Monastery  is  about  forty  miles  from  Moscow, 
J-  and  reached  by  railway  in  little  more  than  two  hours.  Our  friends 
took  an  earl}'  start,  intending  to  see  the  monastery  and  return  the  same  day 
which  is  by  no  means  difficult,  as  there  are  three  trains  each  way  every 
twenty-four  hours.  Fred  had  spent  the  previous  evening  in  reading  up 
the  history  of  the  place  they  were  to  visit.  As  soon  as  they  were  seated 
in  the  train  he  gave  the  following  summary  to  his  companions  : 

"  The  monastery  was  founded  in  134:2  by  St.  Sergius,  a  son  of  a  Rus- 
sian nobleman  of  Rostof,  who  was  famed  for  his  intelligence  and  piety. 
The  Princes  of  Muscovy  used  to  ask  his  advice  in  their  contests  with  the 
Tartars,  as  well  as  in  other  matters.  Dmitry  of  the  Don  sought  his  bless- 
ing before  going  to  the  battle  of  Kulikova,  where  he  defeated  the  Tartars ; 
he  was  accompanied  by  two  monks,  disciples  of  Sergius,  who  fought  by 
Dmitry's  side  during  the  memorable  battle.  In  consideration  of  the  great 
services  thus  rendered,  the  monastery  received  grants  of  land  and  became 
very  rich.  St.  Sergius  died  in  1392,  and  it  is  said  that  he  remained  a  sim- 
ple monk  to  the  last. 

"  In  1108  the  Tartars  laid  the  monastery  waste,  and  scattered  the 
monks.  They  reassembled  about  fifteen  years  later,  and  the  monastery 
was  re-established.  It  has  never  since  been  recaptured,  though  it  was  be- 
sieged by  thirty  thousand  Poles  in  1608.  The  monks  made  a  vigorous  de- 
fence, and  the  siege  was  finally  raised  by  a  Russian  force  which  came  to 
their  assistance.  The  French  started  from  Moscow  for  the  monastery  in 
1812,  but  only  went  about  half  way.  The  tradition  is  that  the  saint  ap- 
peared miraculously,  and  covered  the  road  leading  to  the  monastery  with 
such  an  array  of  soldiers  in  black  that  the  French  did  not  dare  to  attack 
them. 


272 


«THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  While  the  Poles  were  in  possession  of  Moscow  in  1612,  the  monas- 
tery aided  the  inhabitants  with  food  and  money.  The  Poles  again  sent 
an  army  to  conquer  the  place,  but  it  was  repulsed  by  the  monks  without 
any  assistance  from  the  Russian  soldiers.  The  plague  and  the  cholera, 
which  have  both  visited  Moscow,  have  not  entered  Troitska,  and  conse- 
quently the  place  is  much  venerated  for  its  sanctity. 

"There  is  a  legend  that  when  the  saint  first  came  to  the  spot  he  met  a 
huge  bear  in  the  forest  ;  the  bear  rushed  forward  to  destroy  him,  but  sud- 


COPY    OF   PICTURE    IN    THE    MONASTERY. 


denly  paused,  and  from  that  moment  the  saint  and  the  bear  were  friends. 
For  the  rest  of  their  days  they  lived  together,  and  when  the  saint  died  the 
bear  remained  on  the  spot,  and  gave  evidences  of  the  most  earnest  grief. 
This  story  is  implicitly  believed  by  the  orthodox  Russians,  and  the  gentle- 
man from  whose  writings  I  have  taken  it  says  he  heard  it  from  the  lips 
of  a  Russian  lady,  and  narrated  so  artlessly  that  it  would  have  been  pain- 
ful to  have  expressed  any  doubt  of  its  truth." 

Other  legends  of  the  monastery,  and  incidents  showing  its  prominence 
in  Russian  history,  whiled  away  the  time  till  the  station  at  Troitska  was 
reached.  After  a  substantial  breakfast  at  the  railway-station,  the  party 
proceeded  to  the  famous  edifice,  which  is  more  like  a  fortress  than  a  re- 
ligious establishment.  Its  walls  have  a  linear  extent  of  nearly  a  mile; 
they  are  twenty  feet  thick,  and  vary  in  height  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet. 
They  would  offer  little  obstruction  to  modern  artillery,  but  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  they  could  make  a  stout  resistance  to  such  cannon  as  the  Poles 
possessed  three  centuries  ago.     There  are  towers  at  the  angles,  eight  in  all, 


SHRINE   OF   ST.  SERGIUS.  273 

and  one  of  them  is  surmounted  by  an  obelisk  which  bears  a  duck  carved 
in  stone,  in  remembrance  of  the  fact  that  Peter  the  Great  used  to  shoot 
ducks  on  a  pond  near  the  monastery. 

For  what  they  saw  at  Troitska  we  will  refer  to  Frank's  journal : 
"  There  were  crowds  of  beggars  along  the  road  from  the  railway-sta- 
tion to  the  gate  of  the  monastery.  It  seems  that  the  place  is  an  object  of 
pilgrimage  from  all  parts  of  Russia,  and  the  beggars  reap  a  goodly  har- 
vest from  those  who  come  to  pray  at  the  shrine  of  the  saint.  Before  the 
railway  was  opened,  the  high-road  from  Moscow  seemed  to  pass  through  a 
double  hedge  of  beggars,  and  the  traveller  was  never  out  of  hearing  of 
their  plaintive  appeals  for  charity. 

"  We  were  cordially  welcomed  to  the  monastery,  and  one  of  the  monks, 
who  spoke   French,  accompanied   us  through  the  place.     Tbere  are  ten 


WINDOW    IN    CHURCH    OF    THK    TRINITY. 


churches  within  the  walls,  the  oldest  being  the  Church  of  the  Trinity,  and 
the  largest  that  of  the  Assumption.  The  shrine  of  St.  Sergins  is  in  the 
former.  It  is  an  elaborate  piece  of  workmanship,  of  pure  silver,  weighing 
nine  hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds,  and  is  so  constructed  that  the  relics 
of  the  saint  are  exposed.  Near  the  shrine  is  a  painting  of  the  saint,  that 
was  carried  in  battle  by  Peter  the  Great  and  the  Czar  Alexis,  and  there  is 
a  record  on  a  silver  plate  of  other  battles  in  which  it  was  used. 

1S 


274 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IX   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"There  are  other  pictures  of  the  saint  displayed  on  the  walls  of  the 
church.  The  whole  interior  of  the  building  is  covered  with  ornaments  in 
massive  silver  and  gold,  and  it  is  no  wonder  the  French  made  an  effort  to 
plunder  the  monastery  when  they  learned  of  the  treasures  it  contained. 
There  is  a  representation  of  the  Last  Supper,  in  which  the  figures  are  of 
solid  gold,  with  the  exception  of  the  Judas,  which  is  of  brass.     The  hn- 


^f-fVr- 


riTy  the  rooit. 


ages  are  coverei 


with  pearls  and  precious  stones  in  great  profusion.     In 
some  eases  they  are  so  thickly  spread  that  the  metal  can  hardly  be  seen. 

"In  the  Church  of  the  Assumption  is  a  two-headed  eagle,  which  com- 
memorates the  concealment  of  Peter  the  Great  under  the  altar  during  the 
insurrection  of  the  streltzi.     They  showed  us  a  well  that  was  dug  by  St. 


CURIOSITIES   OF   THE   TROITSKA  COLLECTION. 


275 


Sergius,  and  discovered  after  its  locality  had  been  unknown  for  nearly 
three  hundred  years.  Near  the  church  is  a  tower  two  hundred  and  nine- 
ty feet  high,  and  containing  several  bells,  one  of  them  weighing  sixty -five 
tons.     Russia  is  certainly  the  country  of  gigantic  bells. 

"  A  description  of  all  the  churches  at  Troitska  would  be  tedious,  es- 
pecially as  we  have  spoken  of  the  two  of  greatest  interest.  The  sacristy 
is  in  a  detached  building,  and  contains  more  curiosities  than  I  could  de- 
scribe in  a  dozen  pages.  There  are  mitres,  crowns,  crosses,  and  other  orna- 
ments that  have  been  given  to  the  monastery  by  the  various  rulers  of  Rus- 
sia or  by  wealthy  individuals,  many  of  them  set  with  jewels  of  remarkable 
size  and  beauty.  A  copy  of  the  Gospels,  given  by  the  Czar  Michael  in 
1632,  is  in  heavy  covers,  ornamented  with  designs  in  enamel ;  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  design  on  the  front  cover  is  a  cross  made  with  rubies,  emeralds, 
and  sapphires,  and  there  is  a  similar 
though  smaller  cross  on  the  back. 

"The  robes  worn  by  the  priest- 
hood are  as  numerous  and  costly 
as  those  we  saw  at  Moscow,  and  so 
are  the  ornaments  that  accompany 
them.  The  pearl  head-dress  which 
Catherine  II.  wore  at  her  corona- 
tion is  preserved  here,  and  serves 
as  an  ornament  on  a  priestly  robe. 
There  is  a  crown  presented  by  Eliz- 
abeth, and  an  altar-cloth  from  John 
the  Terrible.     And  so  we  could  go 

on  through  a  long  list  of  magnifi- 
es o  o 

cent  gifts  from  kings  and  emper- 
ors, and  an  equally  long  array  of  vestments  worn  by  high  dignitaries  of 
the  Church  on  state  occasions. 

"  The  piety  of  the  pilgrims  is  shown  by  their  adoration,  not  of  these 
jewelled  crowns  and  diadems,  but  of  the  wooden  utensils  and  coarse  gar- 
ments which  belonged  to  the  founder  of  the  monastery.  These  relics  are 
.distributed  among  the  glass  cases  which  contain  the  costly  mementos  we 
have  mentioned,  with  the  evident  intention  of  setting  forth  as  clearly  as 
possible  the  simple  wa}rs  of  his  life. 

"  One  of  the  curiosities  they  showed  us  was  a  natural  agate,  in  which 
there  is  the  figure  of  a  monk  bowing  before  a  cross.  The  cross  is  very 
clearly  defined,  and  so  is  the  cowled  figure  kneeling  before  it,  though  the 
latter  would  hardly  be  taken  as  representing  anything  in  particular  if  re- 


CX'KIOI.S    AGATE    AT    TROITSKA. 


•m 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS    IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


/ 


JH. 


^ 


garded  by  itself.  We  examined  it  carefully  to  see  if 
there  was  any  deception  about  it,  but  could  not  de- 
tect it  if  there  was.  The  monk,  the  cross,  and  the 
rock  on  which  the  cross  stands  appear  to  be  wholly 
formed  by  the  natural  lines  of  the  agate.  The  stone 
is  about  four  inches  high,  and  oval  in  shape  ;  on  one 
side  it  is  rather  dull  and  opaque,  but  it  is  bright 
on  the  other,  and  distinctly  shows  the  eyes  of  the 
monk. 

"  The  monks  of  Troitska  wear  black  caftans  topped 
with  high  black  hats  without  brims ;  black  veils  hang 
down  over  their  shoulders,  and  nearly  every  monk 
wears  his  hair  as  long  as  it  will  grow.  AVe  saw  them 
at  dinner  in  their  refectory,  where  one  of  the  number 
read  the  service  while  the  rest  went  on  with  their 
eating  and  drinking ;  they  were  talking  freely  among 
themselves,  and  did  not  seem  to  listen  at  all  to  the 
reader.  In  general  the}7  appear  to  be  well  fed  and 
cared  for,  and,  so  far  as  we  could  observe,  their  life 
is  not  a  rigorous  one.  They  offered  carvings  in  wood, 
ivory,  and  mother-of-pearl,  and  we  bought  several  of 
these  things  to  bring  away  as  curiosities.  Among 
them  was  a  paper-knife,  with  the  handle  representing 
St.  Sergius  and  the  bear  in  the  forest.  The  work 
was  well  done,  and  the  knife  will  make  a  pretty  or- 
nament for  somebody's  desk  in  America. 

"  When  we  entered  the  refectory  the  monks  in- 
vited us  to  dine  with  them,  and  we  regretted  that  we 
had  already  breakfasted  at  the  railway -station.  There 
is  a  lodging-house  for  travellers  attached  to  the  mon- 
astery, and  comparing  favorably  with  a  Russian  hotel 
of  the  rural  sort.  Nothing  is  charged  for  the  rooms, 
but  the  lodger  who  can  afford  it  must  pay  for  his 
food,  and  in  addition  he  is  expected  to  drop  some- 
thing into  the  contribution-box  which  the  monks  will 
show  him  before  his  departure.  The  cooking  is  said 
to  be  excellent,  and  the  table  as  well  supplied  as  any 

in  Moscow.     They  have  a  pilgrim's  table,  where   one  may  dine  free  of 

charge,  but  the  food  is  simple  and  limited  in  quantity. 

"  There  is  a  studio  of  painting  in  the  monastery,  where  the  monks  and 


*yJ 


'/■. 


PAPER-KNIFE  FROM  TROIT- 
SKA. ST.  SERGIUS  AND 
THE    BEAR. 


THE   WEALTH   OF  THE   MONASTERY. 


277 


their  pupils,  forty  or  fifty  in  all,  were  busily  at  work  copying  from  relig- 
ious subjects  of  both  Greek  and  Latin  origin.  They  are  not  confined  to 
church  paintings,  as  we  saw  portraits  of  the  Emperor  and  other  members 
of  the  Imperial  family,  and  several  battle-scenes  in  which  Eussian  arms 


SPECIMENS    OK    ECCLESIASTICAL    PAINTING    ON    GLASS. 


have  figured.  There  is  a  very  good  painting  representing  the  attack  of 
the  Poles  upon  the  monastery,  and  another  illustrating  the  defence  of  Se- 
bastopol  during  the  Crimean  War. 

"  The  monastery  was  enormously  rich  at  one  time,  not  only  in  the 
treasures  it  possessed,  but  in  grants  of  land  and  serfs  which  had  been  given 
by  the  Government.  In  170-i  it  had  one  hundred  and  six  thousand  male 
serfs,  and  its  lands  covered  many  thousands  of  acres.  Though  losing  its 
serfs,  it  has  not  been  without  compensation,  and  the  monastery  is  hand- 
somely supported,  partly  by  an  annual  donation  from  the  Government, 
and  partly  by  the  gifts  of  pious  Russians." 

Doctor  Branson  and  the  youths  returned  to  Moscow  in  the  evening,  as 


278 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


they  had  planned,  and  on  the  next  day  made  their  preparations  for  con- 
tinuing their  journey. 

Their  next  place  of  destination  was  Nijni  Novgorod,  where  they  wished 
to  attend  the  great  fair,  which  was  then  in  progress.  They  decided  to  go 
by  the  express  train,  which  leaves  Moscow  in  the  evening  and  reaches 


RUSSIAN    COOPER  S    SHOP    AND    nWF.LI.ISG. 


Xijni  Novgorod  in  the  morning.     The  distance  is  about  two  hundred  and 
seventy  miles,  and  there  is  very  little  to  see  on  the  way. 

The  only  place  of  consequence  between  Moscow  and  Nijni  is  Vladi- 
mir, named  after  Vladimir  the  Great.  It  has  about  fifteen  thousand  in- 
habitants,  and  is  the  centre  of  a  considerable  trade.  Anciently  it  was  of 
much  political  importance,  and  witnessed  the  coronations  of  the  Czars  of 
Muscovy  down  to  1±32.  Its  Kremlin  is  in  a  decayed  state,  and  little  re- 
mains of  its  former  glory,  except  a  venerable  and  beautiful  cathedral. 
Our  friends  thought  they  could  get  along  with  the  churches  they  had  al- 
ready seen,  and  decliued  to  stop  to  look  at  the  Cathedral  of  Vladimir. 


THE   GREAT   FAIRS  OF  EUROPE.  279 

On  arriving  at  Nijni  they  were  met  at  the  station  by  a  commissioner 
from  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste,  to  which  they  had  telegraphed  for  rooms.  In 
the  time  of  the  fair  it  is  necessary  to  secure  accommodations  in  advance 
if  one  is  intending  to  remain  more  than  a  single  day.  Tourists  who  are 
in  a  hurry  generally  come  from  Moscow  by  the  night  train,  spend  the  day 
at  Nijni,  and  return  to  Moscow  the  same  evening.  Thus  they  have  no 
use  for  a  hotel,  as  they  can  take  their  meals  at  the  railway-station  or  in  the 
restaurants  on  the  fair  grounds. 

"This  is  practically  the  last  of  the  great  fairs  of  Europe,"  said  the 
Doctor  to  his  young  companions  as  the  train  rolled  ont  of  Moscow.  "  Leip- 
sic  still  maintains  its  three  fairs  every  year,  but  they  have  greatly  changed 
their  character  since  the  establishment  of  railways.  They  are  more  local 
than  general,  and  one  does  not  see  people  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  as  was 
the  case  forty  or  fifty  years  ago.  The  fairs  of  France  and  Germany  have 
dwindled  to  insignificance,  and  now  the  only  really  great  fair  where  Eu- 
rope and  Asia  meet  is  the  one  we  are  about  to  visit." 

Frank  asked  how  long  these  fairs  had  been  in  existence. 

"  Fairs  are  of  very  ancient  origin,"  the  Doctor  replied  ;  "  that  of  Leip- 
sic  can  be  distinctly  traced  for  more  than  six  hundred  years.  The  word 
'fair'  comes  from  the  Latin  feria,  meaning  day  of  rest,  or  holiday,  and 
the  fairs  for  the  sale  of  goods  were  and  still  are  generally  connected  with 
religious  festivals.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  had  fail's  before  the  Chris- 
tian era  ;  fairs  were  established  in  France  in  the  fifth  century  and  in  Eng- 
land in  the  ninth,  and  they  were  common  in  Germany  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eleventh  century,  when  they  were  principally  devoted  to  the 
sale  of  slaves. 

"Coming  down  with  a  single  bound  to  the  great  fair  of  Russia,  we 
find  that  there  was  an  annual  gathering  of  merchants  at  Nijni  more  than 
live  hundred  j'ears  ago.  Long  before  that  time  there  was  a  fair  in  Kazan, 
then  under  Tartar  rule,  but  Russian  merchants  were  prohibited  from  go- 
ing there  by  order  of  John  the  Terrible.  The  fair  of  Nijni  was  removed 
to  Makarieff,  seventy  miles  down  the  river,  in  1641,  where  it  remained  a 
long  time.  The  monks  of  Makarieff  controlled  the  fair  until  1751,  when 
it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and  has  remained  there  ever 
since. 

"  The  fair  at  Makarieff  was  held  on  low  ground  near  the  town.  Ow- 
ing to  an  inundation  in  1816,  the  Government  restored  the  fair  to  Nijni, 
and  decreed  that  it  should  be  held  annually  between  the  27th  of  July  and 
the  22d  of  September.  The  ordinary  population  of  Nijni  is  about  forty 
thousand ;  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  merchants,  laborers,  and  others 


280 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


come  to  the  fair,  so  that  for  two  months  of  the  year  nearly  three  hundred 
thousand  people  are  assembled  here." 

"  How  are  they  all  accommodated  with  lodgings  and  food  ?"  one  of  the 
youths  asked. 

"  The  permanent  town  of  Nijni  Novgorod,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  is  sepa- 
rated from  Fair -town,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  by  the  River  Oka,  which 
here  joins  the  Volga.  The  fair  is  held  on  a  tongue  of  land  between  the 
Volga  and  the  Oka,  and  Fair -town  and  Xijni  proper  are  connected  by 


NIJNI   NOVGOROD   DURING   THK   FAIR. 


bridges  of  boats.  It  is  a  regular  town  or  city,  built  for  the  purposes  of 
trade.  It  has  its  governor,  police  force,  fire  brigade,  and  all  the  parapher- 
nalia of  a  city,  and  the  Government  collects  by  means  of  a  tax  about  fifty 
thousand  dollars  for  the  support  of  the  organization." 

"  Then  it  is  a  city  with  a  busy  population  for  two  months  of  the  year, 
and  a  deserted  town  for  the  other  ten  ?" 

"Exactly  so,"  was  the  reply;  "Fair-town  at  Nijni  in  season  and  out 
of  season  will  remind  you  of  the  difference  between  Coney  Island  or  Long 
Branch  in  July  and  in  January. 


THE   SIGHTS  OF  NIJNI  NOVGOROD. 


281 


"We'll  drop  the  subject  till  to-morrow,"  said  the  Doctor,  and  with 
this  suggestion  the  conversation  was  suspended. 

On  their  arrival  at  Nijni,  where  they  expected  to  remain  two  or  three 
days,  the  party  went  to  the  hotel  as  already  stated,  and  then  made  a  hasty 
survey  of  the  stock  sights  of  the  place.  They  saw  the  Kremlin,  which  is 
a  place   of  considerable  strength,  and  contains  the  Governor's  residence, 


NIJNI    NOVGOROD    AFTER    THE    FAIR. 


the  military  barracks,  law-courts,  telegraph  station,  and  other  public  build- 
ings. There  is  a  fine  monument  to  Minin  and  Pojarsky,  and  in  a  church 
not  far  off  is  the  tomb  of  the  patriotic  cattle-dealer. 

Our  friends  climbed  to  the  top  of  Minin's  Tower  (Baahnia  Minina), 
where  they  had  a  magnificent  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  including 
the  valleys  of  the  Volga  and  Oka  for  a  long  distance,  the  permanent  town 
and  its  Kremlin,  the  site  of  the  fair,  with  its  miles  of  streets,  and  its  thou- 
sands of  boats  and  barges  tied  to  the  river-bank.  Frank  recalled  the  view 
from  the  hill  near  Hankow,  at  the  junction  of  the  Han  and  Yang-tse  in 
China,  and  pointed  out  many  features  of  similarity.  Fred  said  he  was 
reminded  of  the  junction  of  the  Ganges  and  Jumna  at  Allahabad,  and  an 
appeal  to  the  Doctor  brought  out  a  reference  to  the  union  of  the  Alle- 
ghany and  Monongahela  at  Pittsburg. 

The  permanent  town  was  quickly  disposed  of,  as  the  youths  were  im- 
patient to  inspect  the  great  fair.  For  an  account  of  what  they  saw  we 
will  again  refer  to  their  journals. 

"  What  a  cloud  of  dust  there  is  here,"  said  Frank,  "  and  they  say  the 
dust  turns  to  mud,  and  deep  mud,  too,  after  a  heavy  rain.     They  make  a 


282 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


pretence  of  watering  the  streets  when  the  weather  is  dry,  but  the  work  is 
not  very  well  done ;  and  besides,  the  vast  number  of  peojjle  walking  about 
keep>s  the  ground  in  very  active  occupation. 

"Nearly  all  the  houses  are  of  brick  or  iron,  and  great  care  is  taken  to 
prevent  fires.     The  lower  stories  of  the  houses  are  used  for  shops,  and  the 
upper  for  storage,  or  for  the  residence  of  those  who  have  hired  the  build- 
ings.     The  sewerage  system  is  said  to  be  excellent, 
the  sewers  being  flushed  several  times  daily  by  water 
pumped  from  the  river. 

"  The  Governor's  house  is  in  the  centre  of  this 
fair-town.  Under  it  is  a  bazaar  for  the  sale  of  goods 
from  all  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  we  naturally 
took  this  house  for  the  centre  of  trade.  Along  the 
streets  and  avenues  there  are  shops  of  all  kinds,  and 
we  seemed  to  be  in  the  bazaars  of  all  the  Oriental 
countries  we  have  ever  visited,  together  with  the  shops 
and  stores  of  all  the  Western  ones.  The  list  of  the 
goods  we  saw  would  almost  be  a  list  of  all  the  articles 
of  trade  throughout  the  civilized  and  uncivilized  world, 
and  we  hesitate  to  begin.  Name  anything  that  you 
want  to  buy  and  the  guide  will  take  you  to  where  it 
is  sold. 
"  The  mode  of  dealing  is  more  Oriental  than  Occidental,  as  the  mer- 
chants in  any  particular  kind  of  goods  are  clustered  together  as  in  the 
bazaars  of  the  East.  For  a  mile  or  more  there  are  warehouses  filled  only 
with  iron,  and  very  judiciously  they  are  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  to  save 
labor  in  handling  and  transportation.  The  tea-merchants  are  together,  and 
so  are  the  dealers  in  Bokharian  cotton,  Tartar  sheepskins,  Siberian  furs, 
and  other  things  on  the  loner  list  we  do  not  intend  to  write  out  in  full. 

" Restaurants  of  every  name  and  kind  are  here,  good,  bad,  and  indiffer- 
ent. The  best  is  under  the  Governor's  house,  and  we  recommend  it  to 
any  of  our  friends  who  follow  in  our  footsteps  and  visit  Nijni.  There 
are  Russian,  Armenian,  and  Catholic  churches,  and  there  are  mosques  and 
pagodas,  so  that  every  visitor  may  suit  himself  in  religious  matters. 

"  As  for  the  people  we  confess  to  some  disappointment.  The  great 
majority  are  Russians,  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  it  is  rather  greater  than 
we  had  looked  for.  We  had  thought  we  would  see  all  the  countries  of 
Asia  represented  by  their  national  dress,  together  with  English,  French, 
Germans,  and  other  people  of  Western  Europe.  All  were  there,  it  is  true, 
but  not  in  the  numbers  we  had  expected. 


TARTAR    MERCHANT. 


THE   GREAT  FAIR  AT  NIJNI. 


283 


"  Kirghese,  Bokhariots,  Turcomans,  and  other  people  of  Central  Asia, 
were  to  be  seen  here  and  there,  and  so  were  Kalmuck  Tartars,  Armenians, 
Persians,  and  an  occasional  Chinese.  But  sometimes  we  could  walk  around 
for  an  hour  or  so  without  seeing  anybody  but  Russians,  or  hearing  any 
language  except  the  one  to  which  we  have  become  accustomed  since  our 
arrival  at  St.  Petersburg. 

"We  bought  a  few  souvenirs  of  the  place ;  but,  so  far  as,  we  could  ob- 
serve, the  prices  were  quite  as  high  as  in  the  Gostinna  Dvor  of  St.  Peters- 
burg or  Moscow.  It  requires  a  great  deal  of  bargaining,  and  a  knowledge 
of  prices  beforehand,  to  avoid  being  cheated,  and  even  then  you  can  never 


RETURNING    FROM    THE    FAIR. 


be  sure  that  you  are  fairly  treated.  The  mode  of  dealing  is  emphatically 
Oriental,  and  a  great  deal  of  time  is  spent  in  dickering.  Xobody  seems 
to  understand  the  advantages  of  fixed  prices. 

"  It  is  said  that  the  annual  business  at  the  fair  of  Nijni  Novgorod 
amounts  to  three  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  though  it  has  somewhat  di- 
minished of  late  years.  Much  of  the  dealing  is  on  credit,  the  goods  being 
delivered  at  one  fair  and  paid  for  at  the  next.  Over  a  pot  of  tea  trans- 
actions will  be  made  that  cover  many  thousands  of  dollars,  and  neither 
party  has  a  scrap  of  paper  to  show  for  them.  Collections  through  the 
courts  would  be  next  to  an  impossibility,  and  therefore  personal  honor  is 
at  a  high  premium.  The  merchant  who  fails  to  meet  his  engagements 
would  be  excluded  from  the  fair,  and  thus  deprived  of  the  means  of 
making  new  negotiations. 


284  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

"  The  Government  requires  the  bakers  to  report  each  day  the  amount 
of  bread  they  have  sold,  and  thus  a  rough  estimate  of  the  number  of  peo- 
ple present  is  obtained. 

"  There  are  two  other  fairs  held  at  Nijni,  but  they  are  of  comparatively 
little  consequence.  One,  early  in  July,  is  devoted  to  horses ;  the  other,  in 
January,  is  for  the  sale  of  timber,  wooden-ware,  and  boxes.  The  latter  is 
held  on  the  ice  of  the  Oka.  In  January,  1864,  the  ice  gave  way  and  a 
great  number  of  people  and  horses  were  drowned." 

Two  or  three  days  were  spent  at  the  fair,  and  then  our  friends  engaged 
passage  on  a  steamboat  to  descend  the  Volga.  The  youths  were  surprised 
at  the  number  and  size  of  the  steamers  navigating  this  river,  and  still  more 
surprised  to  find  that  many  of  them  were  of  American  pattern.  The  first 
passenger  steamers  on  the  Volga  were  built  by  Americans,  and  wTere  found 
so  well  adapted  to  the  work  required  of  them  that  the  system  has  been 
continued.  Some  of  the  boats  are  of  the  Mississipjn  model,  while  others 
resemble  those  of  the  Hudson  River.  At  first  they  had  only  side-wheel 
steamers,  but  in  the  last  few  years  several  light-draft  stern- wheelers  have 
been  built  (also  by  Americans)  and  found  especially  useful  in  threading 
among  the  numerous  sand-bars  at  the  period  of  low  water. 

Many  boats  of  great  power  are  nsed  for  towing  barges  up  and  down 
the  river,  and  find  plenty  of  employment  during  all  the  time  the  Volga  is 
free  from  ice.  Altogether,  about  five  hundred  steamboats  of  all  classes  are 
engaged  in  the  navigation  of  the  Volga. 

It  is  sixteen  hundred  miles  from  Nijni  to  Astrachan,  and  the  voyage 
usually  takes  five  or  six  days.  The  boats  do  not  rim  at  night,  on  account 
of  the  difficulty  of  navigation,  which  is  worse  than  that  of  the  Lower  Mis- 
sissippi, and  more  like  the  Missouri  than  any  other  American  stream.  The 
fare  (first  class)  on  the  best  steamers  is  about  twenty-live  dollars,  exclusive 
of  meals,  which  will  cost  from  twelve  to  twenty  dollars  more.  Competi- 
tion occasionally  reduces  the  figures  considerably,  but,  as  a  general  thing, 
the  Russians  are  too  shrewd  to  conduct  their  business  at  a  loss  in  order  to 
injure  that  of  a  rival. 

"We  are  on  a  fine  boat,  which  reminds  me  of  the  very  one  that  carried 
us  from  St.  Louis  to  Memphis,"  writes  Fred  in  his  journal.  "  She  is  called 
the  Nadeshda  ("  Hope") ;  and  that  reminds  me  it  was  the  Hope  on  which 
I  went  from  Memphis  to  Natchez,  when  Frank  and  I  travelled  down  the 
Mississippi.  Her  captain  speaks  English,  the  steward  speaks  French,  and 
we  have  learned  enough  Russian  to  get  along  very  well  with  the  servants 
without  the  aid  of  an  interpreter.  The  cabins  are  large,  clean,  and  com- 
fortable, and  altogether  we  expect  to  make  a  comfortable  voyage. 


TOWING  BY   HORSE-POWER. 


28£ 


"  We  left  Nijni  about  noon,  and  the  captain  says  we  shall  be  twenty- 
four  hours  getting  to  Kazan,  where  he  will  stop  long  enough  for  us  to  see 
the  place.  As  I  write,  we  are  passing  Makarieff,  formerly  the  seat  of  the 
great  fair,  but  now  of  little  importance. 

"There  are  many  boats  and  barges  floating  with  the  current  in  addi- 
tion to  the  huge  tows  which  are  managed  by  the  steamboats.  The  captain 
says  that  before  steam  navigation  was  introduced  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
towing  by  horse-power  ;  and  how  do  you  suppose  it  was  done  ? 

"  There  was  an  immense  barge,  with  powerful  windlasses  or  capstans, 
which  were  operated  by  horses  walking  in  a  circle  as  in  the  old-fashioned 


LAUNCHING    A    RUSSIAN    BARGE. 


cider-mills.  A  huge  cable,  all  the  way  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  two 
miles  in  length,  would  be  sent  up  stream,  and  either  anchored  in  the  chan- 
nel or  fastened  to  a  tree  on  shore.  When  all  was  ready  the  horses  were 
set  in  motion,  and  the  towing-barge,  with  all  the  boats  and  barges  attached 
to  it,  slowly  ascended  against  the  current.  Progress  was  very  slow,  but  it 
was  safe,  as  there  was  no  danger  from  exploding  boilers  or  overheated  fur- 
naces. As  many  as  two  hundred  horses  were  sometimes  employed  by 
single  barges. 

"  Our  captain  says  that  back  from  the  river  are  many  villages  of  Chera- 
mess,  a  people  of  Tartar  origin,  who  preserve  many  of  their  ancient  cus- 
toms. They  are  loyal  subjects  of  the  Government,  and  in  nearly  all  their 
cottages  one  will  find  the  portraits  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress.  In 
accordance  with  their  custom  of  veiling  women,  they  l^ang  a  piece  of  thin 
gauze  over  the  portrait  of  the  Empress. 


286 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  The  summer  road  between  Kazan  and  Nijni  is  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  river;  the  winter  road  is  on  the  ice,  and  is  marked  with  green  boughs 
placed  in  a  double  row,  so  that  the  road  cannot  be  missed.  These  boughs 
are  placed  by  the  Administration  of  Roads,  and  no  one  can  travel  on  the 
ice  of  the  river  until  it  has  been  officially  declared  safe.     The  south  bank 


TAUTAR    VILLAGK    NEAR   THE    VOLGA. 


is  quite  abrupt,  while  on  the  north  the  country  frequently  stretches  off 
in  a  level  for  a  long  distance.  Most  of  the  towns  along  the  banks  are  said 
to  have  been  founded  by  John  the  Terrible  in  his  expedition  for  the  capt- 
ure of  Kazan. 

"We  reached  Kazan  as  promised  soon  after  noon,  and  had  the  rest  of 
the  day  for  seeing  the  place.  We  were  all  ready  when  the  boat  touched 
the  shore,  and  were  off  as  soon  as  we  secured  a  carriage.  The  city  is  about 
five  miles  from  the  river,  but  we  found  the  drive  to  it  not  at  all  uninter- 
esting. We  passed  through  a  suburb  where  a  mosque  and  a  church  stand- 
ing close  together  symbolized  the  friendly  relations  between  the  Russian 
and  Tartar  inhabitants. 

"Kazan  is  a  handsome  city  with  about  sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  of 
whom  one-third  are  Tartars.  We  drove  through  the  Tartar  quarter,  and 
found  it  very  much  like  the  Russian,  with  the  exception  of  the  people  in 
the  streets  and  the  signs  on  the  shops.  The  buildings  have  the  same  gen- 
eral appearance,  and  were  probably  built  by  Russian  architects.  John  the 
Terrible   destroyed   a  large  part   of  the  city  soon   after  its  capture.     He 


INTERESTING   FEATURES  OF  KAZAN. 


287 


levelled  everything  iu  the  Kremlin,  including  the  tombs  of  the  Tartar 
kings,  and  since  his  day  the  city  has  been  swept  by  fire  no  less  than  three 
times.  Consequently  there  is  very  little  of  the  ancient  architecture ;  a 
portion  of  the  Tartar  wall  of  the  Kremlin  remains,  and  that  is  about  all. 

"Kazan  is  famous  for  its  manufactures  of  leather,  soap,  candles,  and 
other  things,  and  there  are  said  to  be  nearly  two  hundred  factories  in  and 
around  the  city.  It  is  specially  celebrated  for  its  tanneries,  and  annually 
turns  out  large  quantities  of  '  Russia  leather.' 

"We  hadn't  time  to  visit  the  University  of  Kazan,  which  has  about 
five  hundred  students,  and  ranks  first  in  the  Empire  for  instruction   in 


TARTAR    BAKER  S    SHOP. 


Oriental  languages  and  literature.  It  has  Persian,  Arabic,  Chinese,  and 
other  Oriental  professors,  and  we  were  told  that  a  student  might  study  any 
one  of  twenty-six  languages  within  its  walls. 

"  Of  course  we  could  not  neglect  the  cathedral,  where  is  preserved  a 


1S8  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

miraculous  picture,  whicli  was  found  unscathed  in  the  midst  of  the  ashes 
after  a  great  conflagration.  On  its  head  is  a  diamond  crown,  presented  by 
Catherine  II.  Near  the  town  is  a  pyramidal  monument  in  memory  of 
those  who  fell  during  the  siege  and  capture  of  the  city. 

"  Just  at  dusk  we  returned  to  the  Nadeshda,  where  we  found  a  sub- 
stantial supper  waiting  for  us,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  fellow-coun- 
tryman, Mr.  liegeman,  who  was  to  be  our  companion  for  the  remainder 
of  the  voyage.  He  was  familiar  with  Russia,  having  lived  in  the  country 
nearly  twenty  years,  and  travelled  in  all  parts  of  it.  He  was  well  informed 
on  every  subject,  and  gave  us  a  great  amount  of  valuable  statistics  and  de- 
scriptions. We  talked  until  quite  late  in  the  evening  ;  and  when  he  joined 
us  at  breakfast  the  next  morning  the  boat  was  steaming  down  the  Volga 
and  nearing  the  mouth  of  the  Kama,  where  several  passengers  were  to 
leave  us. 

" '  They  are  going  to  Perm,'  said  the  captain  of  the  Nadeshda,  '  and 
some  of  them  are  on  the  way  to  Siberia.' 

"We  asked  if  this  was  the  way  to  Siberia,  and  the  captain  explained 
that  it  was  one  of  the  routes.  '  Steamers  ascend  the  Kama  to  Perm,'  said 
he,  'and  from  Perm  there  is  a  railway  to  Ekaterineburg,  which  is  on  the 
Siberian  side  of  the  Ural  Mountains.  The  line  has  been  extended  to 
Tumen,  three  hundred  miles  farther,  and  ultimately  it  will  be  pushed  on 
till  it  reaches  Irkutsk,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Baikal,  and  close  to  the  fron- 
tier of  China.' 

"How  we  wished  we  could  make  the  journey  through  Siberia!  Over 
the  Ural  Mountains,  across  the  Steppes,  down  the  Amoor,  and  out  into 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean !  What  a  magnificent  tour,  and  what 
strange  things  to  see  on  the  way  ! 

"Mr.  Hegeman  heard  our  wish,  and  said  he  would  tell  us  all  about  the 
trip  across  Siberia  as  soon  as  we  were  under  way  again.  As  the  Nadeshda 
steamed  down  the  Volga  he  gave  us  an  account,  which  we  have  tried  to 
preserve  as  nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words." 


AVATCHA   BAY  AND  MOUNTAIN. 


2S9 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AVATCHA  BAY,  IN  KAMTCIIATKA.— ATTACK  UPON7  PETROPAVLOVSK  BY  THE  ALLIED 
FLEET.— DOGS  AND  DOG-DRIVING.— RAPID  TRAVELLING  WITH  A  DOG-TEAM  — 
POPULATION  AND  RESOURCES  OF  KAMTCIIATKA.— REINDEER  AND  THEIR  USES. 
—THE  AMOOR  RIVER.  — NATIVE  TRIBES  AND  CURIOUS  CUSTOMS. —  TIGERS  IN 
SIBERIA.— NAVIGATION  OF  THE  AMOOR.— OVERLAND  TRAVELLING  IN  SIBERIA. 
—RIDING  IN  A  TARANTASSE.— A  ROUGH  ROAD.— AN  AMUSING  MISTAKE.— FROM 
STRATENSK  TO  NERTCHINSK— GOLD-MINING  IN  SIBERIA. 

"  l\/f"y  first  visit  to  the  Russian  Empire,"  said  Mr.  liegeman,  "  was  made 
-L*-*-  from  San  Francisco  across  the  Pacific  Ocean.  I  sailed  out  of  the 
Golden  Gate  in  the  direction  of  Kamtchatka,  and  after  a  voyage  of  thirty 
days  we  sighted  the  summit  of  Avatcha  Mountain,  a  magnificent  volcano 
that  serves  as  a  landmark  to  vessels  approaching  Avatcha  Bay.     This  bay 


A    SIBERIAN    TILLAGE. 


is  one  of  the  finest  I  have  ever  seen.     I  do  not  think  it  surpassed  by  the 
famous  bays  of  Naples  or  Rio  Janeiro." 

Doctor  Bronson  nodded  assent  to  Mr.  liegeman's  opinion.     He   had 

19 


290 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


been  in  Avatclia  Bay,  which  he  briefly  described  to  the  youths  while  Mr. 


liegeman  was  lighting  a  cigar. 


"  It  is  about  ten  miles  across,  and  nearly  circular,"  said  the  Doctor, 
"  and  its  entrance  from  the  ocean  is  nearly  a  mile  in   width.     Avatcha 


PKTROPAVLOVSK,    KAMTCHATKA.— MOUNT    AVATCHA    IS    BACKGROUHD. 

Mountain  is  directly  in  front  of  the  entrance,  so  that  a  navigator  entering 
the  bay  has  little  more  to  do  than  steer  straight  towards  the  volcano  and 
keep  his  vessel  midway  between  the  two  sides  of  the  entrance.  Around 
the  bay  there  are  six  or  eight  little  harbors,  completely  landlocked.     On 


REPULSE   OF  THE   ALLIED   FLEETS. 


291 


one  of  these  harbors  is  Petropavlovsk  (Port  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul),  the 
principal  place  of  trade  in  Kamtchatka.  Once  it  had  a  population  of  two 
or  three  thousand.  It  was  attacked  by  the  allied  fleets  in  the  Crimean 
War,  and  suffered  severely.  After  the  war  the  naval  headquarters  were 
removed  to  Nicolayevsk,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Amoor." 

"  There  is  an  interesting  bit  of  history  connected  with  the  attack  upon 
Petropavlovsk,"  Mr.  Hegeman  remarked,  as  the  Doctor  paused. 

"  In  the  autumn  of  1854  a  combined  fleet  of  six  English  and  French 
ships  attacked  Petropavlovsk,  and  were  twice  beaten  off  by  some  land  bat- 
teries and  a  Russian  frigate  moored  in  the  harbor.  Their  commanders  de- 
termined to  make  an  assault  by  land  with  a  strong  force  of  sailors  and 


A    HEKD    OF    REINDEER. 


marines.  They  attempted  to  take  the  town  in  the  rear,  but  the  Russian 
sharp-shooters  created  a  panic  among  them,  and  drove  the  assailants  over  a 
steep  bank  about  two  hundred  feet  high. 

"  The  English  admiral  committed  suicide  in  consequence  of  his  disap- 
pointment, and  the  fleet  sailed  away.  Xext  year  seventeen  ships  came 
there  together,  as  the  allies  had  determined  to  conquer  the  town  at  all 
hazards.  The  Russians  abandoned  the  place  and  retired  over  the  hills,  but 
they  left  five  or  six  hundred  dogs  behind  them.     The  allied  fleet  remained 


292  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

at  anchor  for  an  entire  day  without  venturing  to  land,  as  it  was  supposed 
that  there  must  be  a  very  large  garrison  to  keep  so  many  dogs." 

"  The  baying  of  the  dogs  kept  them  at  bay,"  whispered  Frank  to  Fred. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  latter,  "kept  them  anchored  in  the  bay." 

"  There  was  only  one  man,  an  American  merchant,  in  the  place  when 
the  allies  landed,  lie  remained  to  protect  his  own  property,  and  had  the 
American  flag  above  his  establishment.  The  allies  burned  all  of  the  Gov- 
ernment buildings  and  stores,  but  did  not  injure  anything  else." 

Frank  asked  how  they  happened  to  have  so  many  dogs  in  a  small  place 
like  this. 

"  Dogs  are  the  beasts  of  burden  of  the  country,"  was  the  reply,  "  and 
without  them  the  people  would  have  much  difficulty  in  getting  about. 
The  dogs  of  Kamtchatka  are  much  like  the  Eskimo  dogs  in  appearance, 
character,  and  cpialities,  and  are  employed  for  the  same  purposes.  They 
draw  sledges  over  the  snow  and  ice  in  winter,  aud  are  capable  of  great 
speed  and  endurance.  With  a  light  load  they  can  travel  fifty  miles  a  da}' 
for  a  week  or  more,  and  on  some  occasions  they  have  been  known  to  make 
a  single  trip  of  one  hundred  miles  and  more  without  resting.  They  are 
harnessed  in  pairs  with  a  leader,  and  a  team  consists  of  anywhere  from 
three  to  twenty-one  dogs.  A  great  deal  depends  on  the  leader,  and  he  is 
always  chosen  from  among  the  most  intelligent  of  the  dogs.  An  ordinary 
dog  is  worth  from  five  to  ten  dollars,  while  a  leader  readily  brings  from 
forty  to  fifty  dollars. 

"  The  best  travelling  I  ever  heard  of  with  a  dog-team,"  continued  Mr. 
liegeman,  "  Avas  when  a  courier  was  sent  to  carry  to  Petropavlovsk  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  Crimean  War.  Without  changing  teams  he  went  from 
Boltcheresk  to  Petropavlovsk  (one  hundred  and  twenty -five  miles)  in 
twenty-three  hours !" 

One  of  the  youths  asked  what  the  clogs  lived  upon. 

"They  live  almost  entirely  upon  fish,"  was  the  reply,  "and  they  eat  it 
in  any  condition — fresh,  dried,  or  half  decayed.  Salmon  are  very  abun- 
dant in  Kamtchatka,  and  the  cheapest  thing  for  feeding  the  dogs.  One 
fish  a  day  is  the  ordinary  allowance  for  a  dog;  but  while  he  is  on  a  jour- 
ney he  receives  only  half  his  usual  ration.  The  natives  all  say  that  these 
animals  travel  better  half  fed  than  when  fully  nourished,  and  many  per- 
sons do  not  give  them  anything  whatever  for  an  entire  day  before  they 
are  to  start  on  a  journey." 

Many  anecdotes  about  the  dogs  of  Kamtchatka  were  given,  and  Frank 
and  Fred  were  so  interested  in  the  subject  that  they  forgot  to  note  down 
what  was  said.  AVhen  questioned  about  it  afterwards,  Frank  said  he  learned 


TRAVELLING   IN   SIBERIA. 


293 


294 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


that  it  requires  much  experience  to  drive  a  dog-team ;  that  the  man  who  is 
to  drive  must  feed  his  own  dogs  and  make  them  know  he  is  their  master ; 
that  they  will  run  away  whenever  they  have  the  opportunity ;  and  they 
have  a  treacherous,  thieving  disposition.  They  are  brave  in  large  num- 
bers, but  always  cowardly  when  alone.  Epidemics  among  them  are  fre- 
quent, and  sometimes  whole  tribes  of  natives  are  thus  deprived  of  their 
dogs  and  unable  to  move  about. 

"  For  further  canine  particulars,"  said  Frank,  "  we  refer  yon  to  '  The 
Voyage  of  the  Vivian  to  the  North  Pole  and  Beyond.'     The  youths  who 


LIGHT-HOUSE    AT    GHIJIGUA. 


made  that  remarkable  journey  had  considerable  practical  experience  with 
dogs,  and  they  personally  visited  Kamtchatka  on  their  way  to  the  Pole.'" 

"  Kamtchatka  has  about  seven  thousand  inhabitants  altogether,"  said 
Mr.  liegeman.  "Twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  are  Russians,  and  the  rest 
belong  to  aboriginal  tribes.  They  are  chiefly  engaged  in  hunting  and  fish- 
ing; there  is  very  little  agriculture  in  the  country,  as  the  climate  is  too 
cold  to  permit  the  cultivation  of  grain  or  garden  vegetables.  Kamtchatka 
is  chiefly  useful  for  its  fur  products.  Five  or  six  thousand  sables  are  killed 
there  every  year,  and  considerable  numbers  of  ermine,  foxes,  and  other 
fur -bearing  animals.  Bears  are  numerous  and  dangerous,  and  so  are 
wolves,  which  are  very  fierce  in  winter,  though  not  at  all  troublesome  in 
the  summer-time.  Earthquakes  are  not  unfrequent  in  Kamtchatka.  but 
they  do  little  damage,  and  are  looked  upon  more  as  amusements  than  any- 
thing else. 

"  From  Kamtchatka  I  went  in  a  ship  to  Ghijigha.  on  the  Okhotsk  Sea," 
continued  Mr.  liegeman.  "  Ghijigha  is  very  much  like  Petropavlovsk,  and 
has  the  same  sort  of  population — a  mixture  of  Cossacks,  peasants,  and  na- 
tives.    It  is  at  the  head  of  a  narrow  bay,  and  its  light-house  is  nothing 


RIDING    ON  A   REINDEER. 


295 


more  than  an  octagonal  hut  with  a  fire  on  the  roof.  Many  of  the  inhabit- 
ants are  the  descendants  of  exiles  who  were  sent  to  the  country  down  to 
about  the  middle  of  this  century. 

"  In  the  time  of  Catherine  the  Great,  many  Poles  were  sent  to  Kam- 
chatka, and  it  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  the  first  voyage  from  that 
country  to  a  foreign  port  was  made  under  the  Polish  flag.     Several  Poles 
seized  a  small  ship  in  the  harbor 
and  put  to  sea.     They  had  no 
nautical  knowledge,   and  no  in- 
struments   for    navigation,    but 
managed  to  reach  Loo  Choo,  and 
afterwards  the  port  of  Macao,  in 
safety. 

"At  Ghijigha  there  were  more 
dogs  and  more  fish.     I  had  my  choice  to  go  by  land  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Amoor  River,  or  by  sea.     I  chose  the  latter  course ;  if  I  had  gone  by  land 
I  should  have  divided  my  time  between  riding  on  reindeer,  riding  after 
dogs,  or  going  on  foot." 

Fred  thought  it  would  be  very  nice  to  ride  on  a  reindeer,  and  earnestly 
wished  he  could  try  it. 

"I  think  a  very  short  trial  would  satisfy  you,"  replied  Mr.  Hegeman  ; 
"at  any  rate  it  was  enough  for  me.  You  have  a  saddle  which  is  simply  a 
pad  without  stirrups,  and  must  maintain  your  balance  by  means  of  a  stick 
that  you  rest  on  the  ground  as  the  animal  walks.  An  inexperienced  man 
falls  off  a  dozen  times  an  hour  for  the  first  few  days,  and  even  old  trav- 


ERMINE-TRAP. 


IXTEKIOR    OF    A    NATIVE    HOUSE. 


296 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


i  ¥ 


cllers  get  a  good  many  tumbles  in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours.  The 
saddle  is  directly  over  the  shoulders  of  the  beast,  as  it  would  break  his 
back  if  placed  where  we  ordinarily  put  the  saddle  on  a  horse.  Conse- 
quently you  are  shaken  at  every  footstep — an  excellent  thing  for  a  dyspep- 
tic, but  not  agreeable  to  a  man  in  good  health. 

"Between  the  Okhotsk  Sea  and  the  Arctic  Ocean  the  'wealth  of  the 
country  is  in  reindeer.     Some  natives  own  as  many  as  forty  thousand  of 

these  animals,  and  herds  of 
a  thousand  or  more  are  not 
at  all  rare.  The  natives 
wander  from  place  to  place 
in  search  of  pasturage.  In 
summer  the  deer  eat  the 
mosses  and  shrubbery  that 
spring  up  all  over  the  coun- 
try, and  in  winter  they 
scrape  away  the  snow  to 
feed  on  the  moss  beneath 
it.  The  native  uses  the 
reindeer  to  ride  upon  or  to 
draw  his  sledge ;  he  eats 
the  flesh  of  the  animal,  and 

THE     REINDEER.  "^       clothing      Elld      tClt- 

covering  of  his  skin.  In 
fact  he  cannot  get  along  without  the  reindeer  any  more  than  could  the 
native  of  Newfoundland  exist  without  the  codfish. 

"  But  I  was  willing  to  let  the  natives  have  a  monopoly  of  the  reindeer 
for  riding  purposes,  and  took  passage  in  a  ship  for  the  Amoor  River. 

"The  Amoor  is  the  greatest  river  of  Siberia,  and  flows  into  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  It  is  navigable  twenty-three  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth,  and 
receives  several  important  streams  from  the  south.  In  one  part  of  its 
course  it  makes  a  great  bend  to  the  south,  where  it  flows  through  magnifi- 
cent forests  containing  several  trees  peculiar  to  the  tropics.  The  tiger 
roams  up  to  the  south  bank  of  the  river  at  this  point,  and  the  reindeer 
comes  down  to  it  on  the  north  ;  occasionally  the  tiger  crosses  the  river  and 
feeds  upon  the  reindeer — the  only  place  in  the  world  where  these  two  ani- 
mals come  together  naturally." 

"What  a  funny  idea!"  exclaimed  Frank.  "To  think  of  tigers  in 
Siberia !" 

"Timers  are  found  elsewhere  in  Siberia,"  continued  their  informant. 


TIGERS   IN  SIBERIA. 


297 


"  In  the  museum  at  Barnaool,  in  the  Altai  Mountains,  I  saw  the  skins  of 
two  large  tigers  that  were  killed  in  a  Siberian  farm-yard  not  far  from  that 
place,  where  they  had  come  to  kill  one  of  the  farmer's  oxen.  Tiger-hunt- 
ing is  a  regular  sport  with  the  Russian  officers  in  that  part  of  Manjouria 
belonging  to  Siberia,  and  over  a  considerable  part  of  the  region  bordering 
upon  China  and  Persia.     But  to  return  to  the  Amoor. 

"  I  remained  several  days  at  Nicolayevsk,  the  capital  of  the  Maritime 
Province  of  Siberia,  and  a  place  of  considerable  importance.  From  there 
I  ascended  the  river  on  a  Russian  steamboat,  passing  through  the  country 


'■^^^^-mm 


FISH-MARKET     AT     NICOLAYEVSK. 


of  several  tribes  of  people.  There  were  Goldees,  Gilyaks,  and  Manyargs, 
and  others  whose  names  would  be  like  Greek  to  you,  and  therefore  I  will 
not  bother  you  to  remember  them.  They  live  by  hunting  and  fishing, 
and  have  permanent  villages  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  in  places  where  the 
fishing  is  best.  In  the  fishing  season  they  always  have  large  quantities  of 
fish  hung  out  to  dry,  and  consecpiently  you  can  generally  smell  a  native 
village  before  you  see  it. 

"  The  boat  landed  near  a  Gilyak  village,  and   I  went  to  see  how  the 
natives  lived.     They  were  not  particularly  civil ;  in  fact  they  hardly  rec- 


298 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN    THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


ognized  our  presence,  but  kept  at  work  in  the  preparation  of  the  morn- 
ing's catch  of  fish  as  though  nobody  was  looking  on.  There  were  a  dozen 
or  more  wolfish  -  looking  dogs,  and  we  came  near  being  bitten  by  the 
brutes.  The  natives  made  a  pretence  of  driving  the  dogs  off,  but  were 
not  half  as  earnest  as  we  were  on  the  subject. 

"  They   have  some  interesting  customs  and  superstitions.     They  are 
pagans  in  religious  matters,  and  worship  idols  and  animals,  and  they  have 


SCENERY   ON   THE   AMOOR. 


a  reverence  for  the  tiger,  eagle,  bear,  and  cat.  They  keep  eagles  in  cages, 
and  when  they  can  catch  a  bear  or  tiger  they  use  him  for  a  religions  cere- 
mony, which  ends  with  the  animal  being  slaughtered.  His  flesh  is  eaten 
under   the  impression   that  it  gives  strength  and   courage  to  the  eaters. 


LIFE   OF  THE   GILYAKS. 


299 


They  will  not  allow  fire  to  be  car- 
ried out  of  their  houses,  through 
fear  of  evil  consequences,  and  they 
formerly  had  the  custom  of  killing 
those  who  came  to  visit  them.  The 
more  amiable  he  was,  the  greater 
was  the  chance  of  his  being  mur- 
dered." 

Fred  asked  how  it  could  be  ex- 
plained. 

"  Very  easily,  when  you  know 
the  reason,"  was  the  reply.  "  They 
believe  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
remain  where  they  left  the  body, 
and  guard  and  protect  the  spot. 
When  a  man  whom  they  liked  was 
about  to  leave,  they  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  kill  him  for  the  sake  of  re- 
taining his  spirit  among  them.     A 


GILYAK    MAN. 


GILYAK   WOMAN. 

Russian  priest  was  killed  in  this 
way,  and  the  Government  made  the 
Gilyaks  understand  that  they  must 
put  an  end  to  the  practice. 

"  The  Gilyaks  have  small  fields 
and  gardens,  and  do  a  little  agricult- 
ure, but  their  great  reliance  is  upon 
the  river,  which  supplies  them  with 
fish  for  food  and  clothing." 

"  How  can  fish  supply  cloth- 
ing?" Frank  asked,  with  a  look  of 
surprise. 

"  Easily  enough,"  was  the  reply. 
"  The  Gilyaks  and  other  people  of 
the  Amoor  take  the  skins  of  fishes, 
beat  them  till  the  scales  fall  off, 
dress  them  with  oil  till  they  are 
pliable,  and  then  fashion  them  into 
garments.     I  have  seen  some  very 


300 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


good  coats  and  jackets  made  of  fish-skins.  The  prettiest  Gilyak  girl  I  saw 
(and  she  had  no  great  beauty  to  boast  of)  wore  a  coat  of  fish-skin  that 
■was  gathered  closely  in  at  the  neck  and  held  around  the  waist  by  a  girdle. 
A  few  yards  away  you  couldn't  distinguish  it  from  cloth. 


NATIVE    BOAT — A  MOOR    RIVER. 


"  The  Gilyaks  row  their  boats  by  pulling  alternately  on  the  oars,  while 
the  Goldees,  who  are  higher  up  the  river,  pull  the  oars  simultaneously. 
The  houses  of  the  Goldees  are  superior  in  every  way  to  those  of  the  Gil- 
yaks.  They  are  warmed  by  means  of  wooden  pipes  passing  beneath 
benches  on  three  sides  of  the  room,  and  serving  as  seats  by  day  and  beds 


GOLDEE    CHILDREN. 


at  night.  Like  the  Gilyaks,  the  Goldees  live  chiefly  by  fishing,  but  they 
give  more  attention  to  agriculture,  and  many  of  them  have  cows  and 
horses.  One  day  we  passed  a  village  where  a  large  fleet  of  boats  was  en- 
o-aEred  in  fishing  for  salmon  and  sturgeon.     Two  men  tried  a  race  with  the 


AMONG  THE   GOLDEES. 


301 


steamboat,  and  fairly  beat  us  for  a  sliort  distance,  tliough  we  were  making 
nine  or  ten  miles  against  tbe  current. 

"  The  Russians  have  established  villages  along  the  Amoor  at  intervals 
of  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  where  the  steamboats  are  supplied  with  wood. 
Some  of  these  villages  are  close  to  the  native  ones,  and  the  people  live  in 
perfect  harmony.  At  one  of  our  stopping-places  I  suggested  that  I  would 
like  to  see  the  inside  of  a  Goldee  house,  and  the  captain  kindly  accompa- 
nied me  to  the  native  village. 

"  Guided  by  a  Russian  peasant,  we  picked  our  way  among  the  drying 
fish,  and  reached  the  door.     It  was  quite  late  in  the  evening,  and  all  the 


VISITING    A    GOLDKE    HOl'SE    AT    NIGHT. 


people  had  gone  to  sleep.  With  some  difficulty  we  roused  the  owner  of 
the  place,  and  persuaded  him  to  admit  us.  Our  guide  carried  a  torch  of 
birch  bark,  and  as  he  held  it  aloft  the  sight  revealed  to  us  was  a  strange 
one. 

"Twenty  or  thirty  persons  were  asleep  on  the  benches,  or  huddled  to- 
gether to  stare  at  the  intruders.  The  captain  explained  that  the  Goldees 
keep  their  houses  very  warm,  and  sleep  with  little  clothing ;  and  certainly 


302 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IX   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


it  did  not  seem  as  if  the  whole  part}T  had  bedding  enough  for  one-quarter 
their  number.  There  was  a  smouldering  tire  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
a  large  kettle,  set  in  brickwork,  was  at  one  side,  and  the  rafters  were  hung 
with  nets  and  fishing  implements.  A  vicious-looking  dog  stood  growling 
in  front  of  us,  and  needed  only  a  word  from  his  master  to  turn  his  growls 
into  bites.  I  had  no  inclination  to  stay  long,  particularly  as  the  atmos- 
phere was  by  no  means  pure,  and  it  did  not  seem  exactly  polite  to  rouse  a 


INAUGURATION    OF    GENGHIS    KUAN. 


gentleman  in  the  night  and  compel  him  to  open  his  house  simply  to  grat- 
ify a  stranger's  curiosity. 

"  For  a  thousand  miles  or  more  the  Ainoor  forms  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween Russia  and  China,  the  former  country  being  on  the  northern  bank, 
and  the  latter  on  the  southern.  There  is  a  Chinese  town  of  some  twen- 
ty thousand  inhabitants  at  one  point,  and  smaller  towns  and  villages  both 
above  and  below  it, 

"  The  whole  valley  of  the  Amoor  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Chinese 
until  1S53,  when  it  was  conquered  by  the  Russians  in  a  campaign  that 
lasted  less  than  two  months,  and  was  unaccompanied  with  loss  of  life. 
General  Mouravieff,  then  Governor-general  of  Eastern  Siberia,  organized 
an  expedition  and  sent  it  down  the  river  in  boats.  The  Chinese  were 
wholly  unprepared  for  it,  and  the  Russians  had  everything  their  own  way. 


HOW  THE  AMOOR  IS  FORMED. 


303 


Then  colonists  were  sent  to  form  the  villages  I  have  mentioned,  and  Rus- 
sia was  so  firmly  established  that  she  eonld  not  be  disturbed. 

"  And  now,  as  you  have  doubtless  studied  the  geography  of  Asia,  will 
you  tell  me  how  the  Amoor  is  formed  ?" 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Fred.  "  It  is  formed  by  the  rivers  Argoon  and 
Shilka,  just  as  the  Ohio  is  formed  by  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela. 
The  Argoon  comes  in  from  the  south,  and  the  Shilka  from  the  north. 
Genghis  Khan  was  born  in  the  valley  of  the  Argoon,  and  the  armies  that 


JUNCTION    OF    THE    ARGOON    AND    SHII.KA    TO    FORM    THE    AMOOR. 


went  to  the  Tartar  conquest  of  Europe  were  originally  mustered  on  the 
banks  of  that  stream." 

"The  answer  is  correct,"  was  the  reply.  "The  spot  where  the  rivers 
unite  is  called  '  Oust-strelhi '  ("  Arrow-mouth  "),  owing  to  the  shape  of  the 
tongue  of  land  between  the  streams.  The  scenery  is  interesting,  as  the 
banks  of  the  Argoon  are  steep,  and  the  hills  as  far  as  one  can  see  them 
are  covered  to  their  summits  with  dense  forests. 

"  Our  steamboat  turned  into  the  Shilka,  and,  after  making  a  few  un- 
important landings,  finished  its  voyage  at  Stratensk,  twenty-three  hundred 


304 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


miles  above  Nicolayevsk.  The  river  voyage  was  at  an  end,  and  from  this 
point  to  St.  Petersburg  was  a  laud  journey  of  five  thousand  miles.  Horse- 
power was  to  be  my  mode  of  conveyance  for  more  than  four  thousand 
miles — a  prospect  by  no  means  pleasant. 

"  It  was  about  tbe  middle  of  October  when  I  arrived  at  Stratensk,  and 
bade  farewell  to  river  navigation  in  Siberia.     By  the  advice  of  Russian 


SCENE    IN    A    POSTING    STATION. 


friends  I  planned  to  go  to  Irkutsk,  the  capital  of  Eastern  Siberia,  before 
the  snows  fell,  and  there  wait  for  the  winter  roads  to  become  good  enough 
for  sledging. 

"  Irkutsk  is  about  fourteen  hundred  miles  from  Stratensk,  and  there  is 
a  good  wagon-road — at  least  it  is  called  good  in  Siberia — connecting  the 
two  points.  The  road  makes  a  detour  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Baikal,  and  quite  a  distance  is  saved  by  crossing  the  lake  on  a  steamer. 
I  was  told  that  I  might  have  to  wait  a  day  or  two  to  connect  with  the 
steamer,  as  it  is  not  very  retrular  in  its  movements. 


THE   RUSSIAN   POSTING   SYSTEM.  305 

"  I  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Russian  officer  while  ascending  the 
Amoor,  and  long  before  reaching  Stratensk  it  was  arranged  that  we  would 
travel  together  to  the  first  provincial  capital,  where  I  intended  stopping  a 
few  days.  There  I  hoped  to  find  some  one  else  who  was  going  in  my 
direction,  and  thus  would  have  the  advantages  of  the  companionship  of 
some  one  who  knew  the  language,  and  also  to  share  the  expense.  It  costs 
no  more  for  two  persons  than  for  one,  as  the  hire  of  horses  and  carriages 
is  just  the  same,  exactly  as  when  you  hire  a  cab  in  London  or  New  York. 

"  From  one  end  of  Siberia  to  the  other  there  is  a  post-road,  with  sta- 
tions from  ten  to  twenty  miles  apart,  and  there  are  similar  roads  leading 
from  the  great  route  to  the  towns  north  and  south.  A  traveller  must 
have  a  paderojn ia,  or  road-pass,  which  he  obtains  from  the  Chief  of  Po- 
lice at  his  starting-point.  lie  pays  at  the  rate  of  half  a  cent  a  mile  for  this 
road-pass,  and  it  entitles  him  to  the  number  of  horses  named  in  the  docu- 
ment. For  these  horses  he  pays  a  rate  fixed  by  law,  usually  two  cents  a 
mile  for  each  horse.  Ordinarily  a  traveller  can  get  along  comfortably 
with  two  horses,  but  if  the  roads  are  bad,  three,  and  sometimes  more,  are 
necessary." 

Frank  asked  if  the  horses  must  be  paid  for  at  the  time  the  paderojnia 
is  taken. 

"  Not  at  all,"  was  the  reply.  "  The  money  is  paid  at  each  station  to 
the  smotretal,  or  station-master.  It  is  paid  in  advance,  or  may  be  given  to 
the  driver  at  the  end  of  the  ride." 

"  A  stranger  must  run  a  great  risk  of  being  cheated,"  said  Fred  ;  "  the 
station-master  could  make  the  distance  out  much  greater  than  it  really  is, 
and  thus  turn  a  dishonest  penny  very  often." 

"By  no  means  can  he  do  so,"  Mr.  liegeman  answered,  "if  the  stran- 
ger is  on  his  guard.  At  every  station  there  is  an  official  certificate  framed 
and  hung  up,  showing  the  distance  to  the  next  station  in  both  directions; 
the  most  enterprising  efforts  of  the  smotretal  to  cheat  the  traveller  can  be 
frustrated  by  a  study  of  this  document. 

"And  now  for  the  means  of  conveyance,"  continued  Mr.  liegeman. 
"  Every  station  is  required  to  keep  a  certain  number  of  horses  and  drivers, 
and  it  must  also  have  a  stipulated  number  of  wheeled  carriages  for  sum- 
mer, and  sledges  for  winter  use.  The  wheeled  carriage  is  called  a  telega  ', 
it  is  a  rough  sort  of  a  wagon  on  wooden  springs,  and  gives  a  great  deal  of 
jolting  to  the  mile.  A  ride  of  a  thousand  miles  in  a  telega  may  be  guar- 
anteed to  cure  a  very  bad  case  of  dysjjepsia  or  kill  the  patient,  and  in  some 
cases  it  might  do  both.  The  horses  are  driven  at  a  breakneck  speed,  and 
the  traveller  finds  himself  tossed  from  side  to  side  till  he  is  bruised  like  a 

20 


306 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


rolled  orange.  The  telega  is  changed,  along  with  the  horses,  at  every  sta- 
tion ;  the  traveller  and  his  baggage  must  be  transferred,  as  the  carriage 
and  horses  return  to  the  station  whence  they  came." 

"It  must  be  very  disagreeable  to  make  these  changes,"  remarked  one 
of  the  youths,  "  especially  at  night  or  in  a  storm." 

"  It  is,  indeed,"  was  the  reply  ;  "  and  to  obviate  this  the  Russians  have 
a  vehicle  called  a  tarantasse,  which  is  larger,  better  made,  and  in  every 
way  more  comfortable  than  the  telega.  A  traveller  going  on  a  long 
journey,  and  able  to  afford  the  expense,  buys  a  tarantasse  at  starting, 
and  sells  it  at  the  end  of  his  ride.  lie  thus  avoids  the  necessity  of 
changing  at  every  station ;  and  if  he  has  a  servant  to  attend  to  the  pay- 
ments and  other  matters,  he  can  sleep  through  the  night  with  compara- 
tive comfort. 

"  We  started  from  Stratensk  in  a  telega,  as  we  could  not  find  a  taran- 
tasse for  sale  or  hire,  and  changed  at  the  next  station.     Luckily  for  us,  the 


A    TARANTASSE. 


smotretal  had  a  tarantasse,  which  we  hired  as  far  as  Stratensk,  about 
sixty  miles  from  our  starting-point.  It  was  old,  and  somewhat  rickety, 
but  it  was  better  than  nothing  at  all,  and  we  gladly  engaged  it. 

"  There  are  three  classes  of  paderojnia  for  the  Russian  post-roads.  The 
highest  is  for  Government  couriers  and  great  officials;  the  second  for  offi- 
cials not  on  Government  business;  and  the  third  for  civilian  travellers. 
My  companion  had  a  courier's  pass,  while  I  had  a  paderojnia  of  the  second 
class ;  consequently  his  was  the  best  to  use. 

"  A  traveller  with  a  courier's  pass  is  never  detained  for  want  of  horses, 


THE   RULE   OF  THE   POST-ROAD. 


307 


while  others  must  take  their  chances.  The  second-class  passport  takes 
precedence  over  the  third,  and  in  a  very  summary  way  at  times. 

"  Suppose  Smith  lias  a  second-class  paderojnia,  and  Jones  one  of  the 
third  class.  Smith  reaches  a  station  and  finds  Jones  with  a  team  ready  to 
start.  If  there  are  no  more  horses,  the  station-master  detaches  Jones's 
horses  and  gives  them  to  Smith  ;  Jones  must  wait  until  he  can  he  sup- 
plied ;  it  may  be  an  hour,  a  day,  or  a  week. 

"Three  horses  must  always  be  kept  ready  for  couriers,  and  the  changes 
made  very  quickly.  If  all  the  horses  belonging  to  a  station  are  out  when 
a  lower-class  traveller  arrives,  he  must  wait  till  a  team  returns  and  has 
rested.     If  he  is  willing  to  pay  something  extra  rather  than  wait,  he  can 


CHANGING    HORSES    AT    A    SIBEIUAN    STATION. 


be  accommodated ;  the  smotretal  will  obtain  horses  from  the  villagers  at 
whatever  advance  on  the  regular  price  that  he  thinks  the  traveller  will 
stand.  Here  is  where  the  station-master  has  a  chance  to  make  something, 
and  he  usually  makes  it. 

"  The  horses  are  small  and  shaggy,  but  they  are  capable  of  great  speed 
and  endurance.     They  are  never  blanketed,  even  in  the  coldest  weather, 


308  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  L\  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

and  their  hair  is  thick  and  soft  like  the  fur  of  a  fox.  Sometimes  they 
kept  up  a  steady  gallop  from  one  station  to  another,  and  did  not  seem  to 
suffer  by  the  speed.  Frequently  they  travelled  ten  miles  an  hour,  and 
when  we  were  going  down  hill  they  did  better  than  that.  The  way  to  go 
from  one  hill  to  another  is  to  dash  down  the  slope  and  across  the  level 
at  full  gallop,  and  thus  obtain  an  impetus  for  mounting  the  next.  Many 
of  the  hollows  have  corduroy  bridges  over  the  little  streams  that  flow 
through  them,  and  when  we  crossed  these  bridges  at  full  gallop  the  taran- 
tasse  or  telega  received  a  very  lively  shaking." 

Turning  to  Doctor  Bronson,  Mr.  Hegeman  suggested  that  the  former 
should  tell  the  youths  about  the  search  in  Siberia  for  Sir  John  Franklin 
and  his  crew. 

The  Doctor  smiled  as  he  recalled  the  story,  which  he  gave  with  a  pre- 
liminary explanation : 

"  The  Russians  apply  the  term  '  equipage '  to  any  kind  of  vehicle, 
whether  on  wheels  or  runners.  The  same  word  is  used  in  Russian  as  in 
French  to  denote  the  crew  of  a  ship. 

"  A  few  years  after  the  disappearance  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  the  Eng- 
lish Admiralty  requested  the  Russian  Government  to  ascertain  if  any 
traces  of  that  officer  and  his  party  had  been  found  on  the  coast  of  Siberia. 
A  general  order  was  sent  to  all  officials  in  Siberia  to  make  inquiries  about 
the '  English  Captain  John  Franklin  and  his  equipage.'  In  due  time  came 
reports  that  nothing  could  be  found,  except  in  a  single  instance,  where  a 
petty  official  wrote  as  follows : 

" '  I  have  made  the  proper  inquiries.  I  can  learn  nothing  about  the 
English  captain,  John  Franklin,  but  in  one  of  my  villages  there  is  an  old 
sleigh  that  no  one  claims,  and  perhaps  it  is  his  equipage.'  " 

"  To  return  to  the  road,"  said  Mr.  Hegeman,  when  the  laugh  created 
by  the  story  had  subsided.  "  We  carried  one,  and  sometimes  two  bells  on 
the  yoke  of  our  shaft-horse,  to  indicate  that  we  were  travelling  by  post : 
every  humbler  vehicle  was  required  to  give  us  not  only  half  but  the  whole 
of  the  road — at  any  rate,  it  was  expected  to  do  so.  Sometimes  we  had  it. 
and  sometimes  we  did  not ;  if  the  drivers  of  the  approaching  vehicles  were 
awake  they  usually  turned  out,  but  very  often  they  were  asleep,  and  their 
horses  had  their  own  way.  When  this  happened,  our  driver  brought  his 
whip-lash  heavily  across  the  sleeper  as  he  passed  him.  The  driver  of  a 
post-carriage  has  the  right  to  thrash  a  common  driver  who  does  not  get 
out  of  his  way,  and  rarely  lets  the  opportunity  pass." 

Fred  suggested  that  in  this  way  he  probably  obtained  some  revenge  for 
the  kicks  and  cuffs  he  received  from  his  superiors.     The  rest  of  the  party 


ON  THE   ROAD. 


309 


310 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


assented  to  the  idea  of  the  youth.  Doctor  Bronson  remarked  that  the 
most  cruel  of  the  slave-drivers  of  the  Southern  States  of  America  in  for- 
mer times  were  the  negro  slaves  who  were  placed  in  authority  over  their 
fellows,  and  he  thought  the  same  rule  held  good  throughout  the  world 
in  general. 

"  It  had  heen  raining  before  we  arrived  at  Stratensk,  and  consequently 
we  found  a  great  deal  of  mud  on  the  roads.  Several  times  we  were  mired, 
and  had  to  send  to  neighboring  farm-houses  for  additional  horses,  and  twice 


GETTING   OUT   OF   DIFFICULTY. 


we  removed  all  our  baggage  and  put  our  own  shoulders  to  the  wheel  to 
get  out  of  trouble.  One  of  these  performances  was  during  a  shower,  and 
did  not  improve  our  condition  or  temper.  1  was  ready  to  vote  Siberian 
travelling  a  first-class  nuisance,  and  felt  downhearted  at  the  immense  dis- 
tance that  lay  between  me  and  the  railway-station  at  Xijni  Novgorod. 

"To  make  things  worse,  our  Cossack  servant  had  placed  our  pillows 
and  blankets  on  the  wet  ground,  and  piled  heavy  baggage  on  top.  For 
this  stupidity  my  companion,  the  captain,  remonstrated  in  very  strong  lan- 
guage, but  all  that  he  said  could  not  dry  our  property.     At  the  next  sta- 


DINING  AT   THE   STATIONS.  311 

tion  we  stopped  for  dinner ;  while  we  were  eating  our  meal  the  dampened 
articles  were  somewhat  improved  by  being  placed  in  front  of  the  kitchen 
fire. 

"  Once  while  descending  a  hill  at  full  speed  a  wheel  of  the  tarantasse 
came  off,  but  no  damage  was  done  beyond  bringing  us  to  a  very  sudden 
stop.  The  two  axles  of  the  vehicle  were  about  twelve  feet  apart,  and 
connected  by  a  pair  of  stout  poles  which  had  a  great  deal  of 'spring'  in 
them.  Properly  made,  a  tarantasse  is  by  no  means  an  uncomfortable  vehi- 
cle to  ride  in,  provided,  of  course,  you  are  travelling  over  good  roads." 

"What  did  you  get  for  dinner  at  the  station  V  Frank  asked. 

"  We  had  the  samovar,  with  some  tea  and  sugar,  from  our  own  stock, 
and  then  we  had  boiled  eggs  and  bread.  They  had  some  cold  mutton, 
of  which  I  ate  liberally,  as  I  had  an  appetite  like  a  tiger,  but  my  friend 
would  hardly  touch  it.  He  told  me  that  mutton  was  rarely  eaten  by  the 
Russians,  and  during  my  journey  through  Siberia  I  do  not  remember  see- 
ing it  on  the  table,  except  in  a  few  of  the  way-side  stations.  This  was  all 
the  more  singular  when  there  were  great  flocks  of  sheep  in  the  country 
where  we  were  travelling.  The  sheep  belong  principally  to  the  Bouriats, 
a  Mongol  people  who  were  the  occupants  of  the  country  before  the  Rus- 
sians went  there. 

"Eggs  and  bread  are  the  only  articles  of  food  you  can  rely  upon  get- 
ting at  the  stations,  and  sometimes  even  the  eggs  are  wanting.  Bread  is 
made  from  rye  flour  rather  than  from  wheat,  and  its  complexion  is  darker 
than  that  of  the  Boston  brown  bread  of  America.  It  is  the  bread  of  the 
peasant  from  one  end  of  the  Empire  to  the  other,  and  a  good  many  of  the 
nobility  prefer  it  to  white  bread.  For  my  own  part  I  never  liked  the 
black  bread  of  Russia,  but  often  ate  it  for  lack  of  anything  else. 

"  Up  hill  and  down  dale  we  went,  and  on  the  second  morning  of  our 
journey  the  broad  and  beautiful  valley  of  the  Nertcha  River  lay  before 
us.  Two  or  three  miles  above  the  point  where  the  Nertcha  joins  the 
Shilka  lies  the  town  of  Nertehinsk,  a  well  -  built  place  with  five  or  six 
thousand  inhabitants.  It  has  an  air  of  wealth  and  solidity,  and  large  fort- 
unes have  been  made  there  by  men  interested  in  gold-mining.  We  en- 
tered the  town  through  an  arched  gate-way,  and  drove  to  the  house  of  a 
rich  gold-miner  with  whom  my  friend  was  well  acquainted.  Hardly  had 
we  thrown  off  our  wrappings  before  the  samovar  was  steaming  on  the  ta- 
ble. We  were  urged  to  stay  to  dinner,  and,  much  to  my  satisfaction,  the 
invitation  was  accepted  by  my  companion." 

"  Haven't  I  read  about  Xertchinsk  as  a  place  of  exile  ?"  said  one  of  the 
youths. 


312 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  Quite  likely  you  have,"  was  the  answer.  "  Nertchinsk  and  its  gold- 
mines have  a  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  Siberian  exile.  AVould 
you  like  to  hear  about  it  ?" 

"  Of  course  we  would,"  the  youths  eagerly  responded.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  journey  through  Siberia  should  be  suspended  until  the  new  sub- 
ject was  disposed  of. 


VALLEY    OF    THE    AMOOR    ABOVE    OUK-SE-ME. 


THE  EEVOLUTIONISTS   OF   1625.  31c 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  EXILES  OF  SIBERIA.— THE  DECEMBRISTS  AND  THEIR  EXPERIENCE— SOCIAL 
POSITION  OF  EXILES.— DIFFERENT  CLASSES  OF  EXILES  AND  THEIR  SENTENCES. 
— CRIMIXALS  AND  POLITICALS— DEGREES  OF  PUNISHMENT.— PERPETUAL  COL- 
ONISTS.—HOW  EXILES  TRAVEL.— LODGING-HOUSES  AND  PRISONS.— CONVOYS.— 
THRILLING  STORY  OF  AN  ESCAPE  FROM  SIBERIA.— SECRET  ROADS.— HOW  PEAS- 
ANTS TREAT  THE  EXILES.— PRISONERS  IN  CHAINS. 

"  f  I  "^IIERE  are  many  errors  in  the  popular  mind  of  England  and  Ameri- 
J-  ca  concerning  the  system  of  exile  to  Siberia,"  said  Mr.  liegeman,  as 
he  settled  into  a  chair  to  begin  his  discourse  on  this  interesting  subject. 

"  One  error  is  that  exiles  are  treated  with  such  cruelty  that  they  do 
not  live  long;  that  they  are  starved,  beaten,  tortured,  and  otherwise  forced 
into  an  early  death. 

"No  doubt  there  have  been  many  cases  of  cruelty  just  as  there  have 
been  in  prisons  and  other  places  of  involuntary  residence  all  over  the 
globe  and  among  all  nations.  Exiles  are  prisoners,  and  the  lot  of  a  pris- 
oner depends  greatly  upon  the  character  of  his  keeper,  without  regard  to 
the  country  or  nation  where  he  is  imprisoned.  Siberia  is  no  exception 
to  the  rule.  With  humane  officials  in  power,  the  life  of  the  exiles  is  no 
worse,  generally  speaking,  than  is  that  of  the  inmates  of  a  prison  in  other 
lands ;  and  with  brutal  men  in  authority  the  lot  of  the  exile  is  doubtless 
severe. 

"In  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  there  was  probably  more  cru- 
elty in  the  treatment  of  exiles  than  since  his  death ;  but  that  he  invented 
systems  of  torture,  or  allowed  those  under  him  to  do  so,  as  has  been  al- 
leged, is  an  absurdity. 

"  Let  me  cite  a  fact  in  support  of  my  assertion.  After  the  revolution 
of  1825,  just  as  Nicholas  ascended  the  throne,  two  hundred  of  the  con- 
spirators were  exiled  to  hard  labor  for  life.  They  were  nearly  all  young 
men,  of  good  families,  and  not  one  of  them  had  ever  devoted  a  day  to 
manual  occupation.  Reared  in  luxury,  they  were  totally  unfitted  for  the 
toil  to  which  they  were  sentenced ;  and  if  treated  with  the  cruelty  that  is 
said  to  be  a  part  of  exile,  they  could  not  have  lived  many  months. 


314 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  The  most  of  them  were  sent  to  the  mines  of  Nertehinsk,  where  they 
were  kept  at  labor  for  two  years.  Afterwards  they  were  employed  in  a 
polishing-mill  at  Chetah  and  on  the  public  roads  for  four  or  five  years, 
and  at  the  end  of  that  time  were  allowed  to  settle  in  the  villages  and 
towns,  making  their  living  in  any  way  that  was  practicable.  Some  of 
them  were  joined  by  their  wives,  who  had  property  in  their  own  right 
(the  estates  of  the  exiles  were  confiscated  at  the  time  of  their  banish- 
ment), and  those  thus  favored  by  matrimonial  fortune  were  able  to  set  up 
fine  establishments. 

"Some  of  the  Decembrists,  as  these  particular  exiles  were  called,  from 
the  revolution  having  occurred  in  December,  died  within  a  few  years,  but 
the  most  of  them  lived  to  an  advanced  age.     When  Alexander  II.  as- 


lN'TERIOR    OF    AN    EXILE  S   HIT. 


cended  the  throne,  in  1856,  all  the  Decembrists  were  pardoned.  Some  of 
them  returned  to  European  Russia  after  thirty-one  years  of  exile,  but  they 
found  things  so  changed,  and  so  many  of  their  youthful  companions  dead, 
that  they  wrote  back  and  advised  those  who  were  still  in  Siberia  to  stay 
there.  My  first  visit  to  Siberia  was  in  1866,  forty-one  years  after  the  De- 
cember revolution.  At  that  time  there  were  ten  or  twelve  of  the  Decem- 
brists still  living,  all  of  them  venerable  old  men.     One  was  a  prosperous 


SOCIAL  POSITION   OF   EXILES. 


315 


wine-merchant  at  Irkutsk ;  another  had  made  a  fortune  as  a  timber-mer- 
chant ;  others  were  comfortable,  though  not  wealthy ;  and  two  or  three 
were  in  humble,  though  not  destitute  circumstances.  Now,  if  they  had 
been  treated  with  the  cruelty  that  is  alleged  to  be  the  lot  of  all  Siberian 
exiles,  do  }Tou  think  any  of  them  would  have  reached  such  an  advanced 
age?" 

Silence  gave  assent  to  the  query.  After  a  short  pause,  Frank  asked 
what  was  the  social  standing  of  these  exiles,  the  Decembrists. 

"  It  was  nearly,  though  not  quite,  what  it  was  in  European  Russia  be- 
fore their  exile,"  was  the  reply.     "  They  were  received  in  the  best  Si- 


exiles   PASSING   THROUGH   A   TILLAGE. 


berian  families,  whether  official  or  civilian,  and  were  on  terms  of  friend- 
ship with  the  officials  in  a  private  way.  They  were  not  invited  to  strictly 
official  ceremonies,  and  this  was  about  the  only  difference  between  their 
treatment  and  that  of  those  who  were  not  exiles.  Of  course  I  refer  to  the 
time  when  they  were  settled  in  the  towns,  after  their  term  of  forced  la- 


316  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

bor  was  ended.  Before  that  they  were  just  like  any  other  prisoners  con- 
demned to  the  same  kind  of  servitude. 

"  There  were  two  of  the  Decembrists  (Prince  Troubetskoi  and  Prince 
Volbonskoi)  whose  wives  were  wealthy,  and  followed  their  husbands  into 
exile.  When  relieved  from  labor  and  allowed  their  personal  liberty,  these 
princes  came  to  Irkutsk  and  built  line  houses.  They  entertained  hand- 
somely, were  visited  by  the  officials,  went  very  much  into  society,  and  in 
every  way  were  as  free  as  any  one  else,  except  that  they  were  forbidden 
to  leave  Siberia.  Nicholas  was  not  of  a  forgiving  disposition,  and  not  till 
he  died  were  the  Decembrists  free  to  return  to  St.  Petersburg. 

"  A  bit  of  social  gossip  adds  to  the  interest  of  the  Siberian  life  of 
Prince  Volbonskoi.  There  was  some  incompatibility  of  temper  between 
the  prince  and  his  wife,  and  for  a  long  time  they  were  not  particularly 
friendly.  She  and  the  children  and  servants  occupied  the  large  and  ele- 
gantly furnished  house,  while  the  Prince  lived  in  a  small  building  in  the 
court-yard.  He  had  a  farm  near  the  town,  and  sold  to  his  wife  such  of 
the  produce  as  she  needed  for  household  use." 

Fred  wished  to  know  how  many  kinds  of  people  are  sent  to  Siberia. 

'■There  are  three  classes  of  exiles,"  was  the  reply:  "political,  relig- 
ious, and  criminal  offenders.  The  political  ones  include  Nihilists  and  other 
revolutionists,  and  of  course  there  is  a  great  majority  of  Poles  among  this 
class;  the  religious  exiles  are  certain  sects  of  fanatics  that  the  Govern- 
ment wishes  to  suppress;  and  the  criminal  ones  are  those  who  offend 
against  society  in  all  sorts  of  ways.  None  of  them  are  ever  called  '  prison- 
ers' or  'criminals'  while  in  Siberia,  and  it  is  not  often  you  hear  them 
termed  '  exiles.'  In  ordinary  conversation  they  are  called  '  unfortunates,' 
and  in  official  documents  they  are  classed  as  '  involuntary  emigrants.' 

"There  are  about  ten  thousand  'involuntary  emigrants'  going  every 
year  from  European  Russia  to  Siberia.  These  include  criminals  of  all 
kinds,  a  few  religious  offenders  of  the  fanatical  sort,  and  some  Nihilists  and 
other  revolutionists.  At  every  revolution  in  Poland  the  number  of  ex- 
iles for  the  next  few  years  is  greatly  increased.  After  the  revolution  of 
1S63  twenty-four  thousand  Poles  were  sent  to  Siberia,  and  other  revolu- 
tions have  contributed  a  proportionate  number." 

"Do  they  all  have  the  same  kind  of  sentence,  without  regard  to  their 
offences  ?"  one  of  the  youths  asked. 

"Not  at  all,"  was  the  reply.  "  The  lowest  sentence  is  to  three  years' 
banishment,  and  the  highest  is  to  hard  labor  for  life.  Sentences  vary  all 
the  way  between  these  two  categories  —  for  five,  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty 
years'  banishment  without  labor,  or  for  the  same  number  of   years  with 


A  SIBERIAN   TOWN. 


517 


318 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


BANISHED    FOR   FITE    YEARS. 


labor.  A  man  may  be  sentenced  to  a  given  number  of  years'  banishment, 
of  which  a  certain  designated  jx>rtion  shall  be  to  hard  labor,  or  he  may  be 
sentenced  for  life,  with  no  hard  labor  at  all.     The  punishment  is  varied 

greatly,  and,  from  all  I  hear,  the  sen- 
tence is  rarely  carried  out  to  its  fullest 
degree.  The  time  of  exile  is  not  les- 
sened until  a  general  pardon  liberates 
entire  classes,  but  the  severity  of  the  la- 
bor imposed  is  almost  always  lightened. 
"Then,  too,  the  exiles  are  distributed 
throughout  the  country,  and  not  allowed 
to  gather  in  large  numbers.  The  object 
of  the  exile  system  is  to  give  a  popula- 
tion to  Siberia,  and  not  to  cause  the 
death  of  the  banished  individual.  Every 
effort  is  made  to  induce  the  exile  to  for- 
get the  causes  that  brought  him  to  Si- 
ts ~ 

beria,  and  to  make  him  a  good  citizen 
in  his  new  home.  His  wife  and  children  may  follow  or  accompany  him 
into  exile  at  government  expense,  but  they  cannot  return  to  European 
Russia  until  he  is  personally  free  to  do  so.  This  permission  is  denied  in 
the  cases  of  the  worst  criminals  who  are  sentenced  to  hard  labor  and 
must  leave  their  families  behind. 

"  Figures  I  was  glancing  at  this  morn- 
ing show  that  in  one  year  16,SS9  persons 
were  sent  to  Siberia,  accompanied  by 
1080  women  and  children  over  fifteen 
years  old,  and  by  1269  under  that  age. 
Of  the  whole  number  of  exiles  mentioned, 
1700  were  sentenced  to  hard  labor,  and 
1624  were  drunkards  and  tramps.  The 
status  of  the  rest  is  not  given,  but  they 
were  probably  sentenced  to  various  terms 
of  deportation  without  labor. 

"  I  should  say  further,  in  regard  to 
this  family  matter,  that  an  exile  is  re- 
garded as  a  dead  man  in  the  place  from 

which  he  is  sent,  and  his  wife,  if  she  remains  in  Europe,  is  legally  a  wid- 
ow, and  may  marry  again  if  she  chooses.  The  wifeless  man  in  Siberia  is 
urged  to  marry  and  become  the  head  of  a  family,  and  whenever  he  mar- 


DANIS1IED    FOR   THREE    TEARS. 


LIFE    IN  THE  MINES. 


319 


ries,  the  Government  gives  him  a  grant  of  land  and  aids  him  in  establish- 
ing a  home.  As  long  as  an  exile  conducts  himself  properly,  and  does 
not  try  to  escape,  he  does  not  find  existence  in  Siberia  particularly  dread- 
ful, provided,  of  course,  he  has  not  been  sent  to  hard  labor,  and  the  offi- 
cers in  charge  of  him  are  not  of  a  cruel  disposition." 

Frank  asked  what  work  was  done  by  those  sentenced  to  hard  labor,  and 
how  the  men  lived  who  were  simply  exiles  and  had  not  a  labor  sentence 
attached. 

"  Those  sentenced  to  Tcatorga,  or  hard  labor,  are  employed  in  mines  or 
on  roads,  and  in  mills  and  factories  of  various  kinds.  Several  years  ago  an 
order  was  issued  that  exiles  should  no  longer  be  kept  at  work  in  mines, 
but  I  am  told  on  pretty  good  authority  that  this  humane  decree  has  been 
revoked  since  the  rise  of  Nihilism.     In  the  mines  of  Nertchinsk,  in  the 


COLONISTS    TILLAGE    IN    WINTER. 


latter  part  of  the  last  century  and  the  early  part  of  the  present  one,  the 
labor  was  fearful.  The  prisoners  were  in  pairs,  chained  together ;  they 
were  often  kept  working  in  mud  and  water  for  fourteen  or  sixteen  hours 
daily ;  their  lodgings  were  of  the  poorest  character,  and  their  food  was 
nothing  but  black  bread  and  occasionally  a  little  cabbage  soup.  The  great 
mortality  in  the  mines  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Government,  and  the 
evils  were  remedied. 

"  Down  to  the  end  of  the  last  century,  criminals  condemned  to  the 
mines  were  marked  by  having  their  nostrils  slit  open,  but  this  barbarity 
has  not  been  practised  for  a  long  time. 

"  Those  sentenced  to  lighter  labor  are  engaged  in  trades,  such  as  making 
shoes,  clothing,  or  other  articles.  Those  who  are  simply  exiled  without 
labor  can  work  at  their  trades,  if  they  have  any,  precisely  as  they  would 


320  THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

do  at  home.  If  they  are  educated  men  they  may  practise  their  profes- 
sions, give  instruction  to  young  people,  or  find  employment  with  merchants 
as  book-keepers  or  other  assistants  in  business.  Some  years  ago  the  per- 
mission for  exiles  to  engage  in  teaching  anything  else  than  music,  drawing, 
and  painting  was  revoked,  when  it  was  discovered  that  some  of  them  had 
been  using  their  opportunities  to  spread  revolutionary  doctrines.  Whether 
this  order  is  yet  in  force  I  do  not  know. 

'"The  next  thing  to  hard  labor  in  Siberia  is  the  sentence  to  become  'a 
perpetual  colonist.'  This  means  that  the  exile  is  to  make  his  living  by  till- 
ing the  soil,  hunting,  fishing,  or  in  any  other  way  that  may  be  permitted 
by  the  authorities ;  he  must  be  under  the  eye  of  the  police,  to  whom  he  re- 
ports at  regular  intervals,  and  he  must  not  go  beyond  certain  limits  that  are 
prescribed  to  him. 

"  The  perpetual  colonist  has  a  grant  of  land,  and  is  supplied  with  tools 
and  materials  for  building  a  house ;  he  receives  flour  and  other  provisions 
for  three  years,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  is  supposed  to  be  able  to 
take  care  of  himself.  Where  he  is  sent  to  a  fertile  part  of  the  country,  his 
life  is  not  particularly  dreadful,  though  at  best  it  is  a  severe  punishment 
for  a  man  who  has  been  unaccustomed  to  toil,  and  has  lived  in  luxury  up 
to  the  time  of  being  sent  to  Siberia.  Many  of  these  colonists  are  sent  to 
the  regions  in  or  near  the  Arctic  circle,  where  it  is  almost  continuous  win- 
ter, and  the  opportunities  for  agriculture  are  very  small.  Only  a  few 
things  can  be  made  to  grow  at  all,  and  the  exile  doomed  to  such  a  resi- 
dence must  depend  mainly  upon  hunting  and  fishing.  If  game  is  scarce, 
or  the  fishing  fails,  there  is  liable  to  be  great  suffering  among  these  un- 
happy men. 

"  The  friends  of  an  exile  may' send  him  money,  but  not  more  than 
twenty-five  roubles  (about  $20)  a  month.  As  before  stated,  the  wife  of  an 
exile  may  have  an  income  separate  from  that  of  her  husband,  and  if  she 
chooses  to  spend  it  they  may  live  in  any  style  they  can  afford. 

"  Many  criminal  and  political  exiles  are  drafted  into  the  army  in  much 
the  same  way  that  prisons  in  other  countries  are  occasionally  emptied  when 
recruits  are  wanted.  They  receive  the  same  pay  and  treatment  as  other 
soldiers,  and  are  generally  sent  to  distant  points,  to  diminish  the  chances  of 
desertion.  Most  of  these  recruits  are  sent  to  the  regiments  in  the  Caucasus 
and  Central  Asia,  and  a  good  many  are  found  in  the  Siberian  regiments. 

''All  money  sent  to  exiles  must  pass  through  the  hands  of  the  officials. 
It  is  a  common  complaint,  and  probably  well  founded,  that  a  goodly  part 
of  this  money  sticks  to  the  hands  that  touch  it  before  it  reaches  its  right- 
ful owner.      The  same  allegation  is  made  concerning  the  allowances  of 


EXILES   IN  IRKUTSK. 


321 


SfeMM*Y. 


KXILKS   LEAVING    MOSCOW. 


money  and  flour,  just  enough  to  support  life,  that  are  given  to  exiles  who 
are  restricted  to  villages  and  debarred  from  remunerative  occupation." 

"  Did  you  personally  meet  many  exiles  while  you  were  in  Siberia  ?" 
Frank  inquired. 

"  I  saw  a  great  many  while  I  was  travelling  through  the  country,"  Mr. 
Hegeman  answered,  "  and  in  some  instances  had  conversations  with  them. 
At  the  hotel  where  I  stopped  in  Irkutsk  the  clerk  was  an  exile,  and  so  was 
the  tailor  that  made  an  overcoat  for  me.  Clerks  in  stores  and  shops,  and 
frequently  the  proprietors,  were  exiles ;  the  two  doctors  that  had  the 
largest  practice  were  'unfortunates'  from  Poland,  and  so  was  the  director 
of  the  museum  of  the  Geographical  Society  of  Eastern  Siberia.  Some  of 
the  isvoshchiks  were  exiles.     On  one  occasion  an  isvoshchik  repeated  the 

21 


322 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


conversation  which  I  had  with  a  friend  in  French,  without  any  suspicion  that 
he  understood  what  we  were  saying.  Hardly  a  day  passed  that  I  did 
not  meet  an  '  unfortunate,'  and  I  was  told  that  much  of  the  refinement 
of  society  in  the  Siberian  capital  was  due  to  the  exiles.  In  talking  with 
them  I  was  careful  not  to  allude  in  any  way  to  their  condition,  and  if  they 
spoke  of  it,  which  was  rarely  the  case,  I  always  managed  to  turn  the  con- 
versation to  some  other  subject. 

"When  on  the  road  I  met  great  numbers  of  exiles  on  their  way  east- 
ward. Five-sixths  of  them  were  in  sleighs  or  wagons,  as  it  has  been  found 
cheaper  to  have  them  ride  to  their  destinations  than  to  walk.  Those  on 
foot  were  accompanied  by  their  guards,  also  on  foot ;  there  was  a  wagon 


TAG1LSK,    CENTRE     OK    IRON-MINES    OK    SIBERIA. 


or  sleigh  in  the  rear  for  those  who  were  ill  or  foot-sore,  and  there  were 
two  or  more  men  on  horseback  to  prevent  desertions.  Formerly  all  prison- 
ers were  obliged  to  walk  to  their  destinations.  The  journey  from  St.  Peters- 
burg to  Nertchinsk  required  two  years,  as  it  covered  a  distance  of  nearly 
five  thousand  miles." 

"  Do  they  sleep  in  the  open  air  when  on  the  road,  or  are  they  lodged  in 
houses?"  inquired  Fred. 

"There  are  houses  every  ten  or  fifteen  miles,  usually  just  outside  the 


CONVOYS   ON  THE  ROAD. 


323 


villages,"  was  the  reply.  "  In  these  houses  the  prisoners  are  lodged.  The 
places  are  anything  but  inviting,  as  the  space  is  not  large.  No  attempt  is 
made  to  keep  it  clean,  and  the  ventilation  is  atrocious.  In  winter  it  is  a 
shelter  from  the  cold,  but  in  summer  the  prisoners  greatly  prefer  to  sleep 
out-of-doors.  Sometimes  the  guards  will  not  grant  permission  for  them  to 
do  so,  owing  to  the  danger  of  desertion,  but  the  scruples  of  the  guards  may 
be  overcome  by  a  promise  obtained  from  all  that  no  attempt  will  be  made 
to  escape,  and  that  everybody  shall  watch  everybody  else. 

"  From  fifty  to  two  hundred  exiles  form  a  batch  or  convoy.  They  are 
sent  off  once  or  twice  a  week,  according  to  the  number  that  may  be  on 
hand.  All  the  convoys  of  exiles  go  to  Omsk,  in  Western  Siberia,  and  from 
there  they  are  distributed  throughout  the  country — some  in  one  direction 


A    SIBK1UAN    TALLEY. 


and  some  in  another.  Those  that  travel  on  foot  rest  every  third  day,  and 
the  ordinary  march  of  a  day  is  about  fifteen  miles ;  those  in  carriages  are 
hurried  forward,  only  resting  on  Sundays,  and  not  always  then." 

"  Do  the  guards  of  a  convoy  go  all  the  way  through  with  the  pris- 
oners ?" 


324  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

"No,  they  do  not;  they  go  from  one  large  town  to  another.  In  the 
large  towns  there  are  prisons  which  serve  as  depots  where  exiles  are  accu- 
mulated, and  the  distribution  of  prisoners  is  generally  made  from  these 
points.  The  officers  and  soldiers  in  charge  of  a  convoy  take  their  prison- 
ers to  one  of  these  depots  and  deliver  up  their  charges ;  receipts  are  given 
for  the  number  of  men  delivered,  just  as  for  so  many  boxes  or  bales  of 
goods.  The  guard  can  then  return  to  its  starting-point,  and  the  prisoners 
are  locked  up  until  the  convoy  is  ready  for  the  road  again. 

'•  The  guards  are  responsible  for  their  prisoners,  both  from  escape  and 
injury.  If  a  man  dies  on  the  road  his  body  is  carried  to  the  next  station 
for  burial,  so  that  the  station-master  and  others  may  certify  to  the  death  ; 
and  if  a  man  is  killed  while  attempting  to  escape,  the  same  disposition 
must  be  made  of  his 'body. 

"  Some  years  ago  a  Polish  lady  who  was  going  into  exile  fell  from  a 
boat  while  descending  a  river.  She  had  a  narrow  escape  from  drowning, 
and  the  officer  in  charge  of  her  was  very  much  alarmed.  When  she  was 
rescued  from  the  water,  he  said  to  her,  '  I  shall  be  severely  punished  if 
you  escape  or  any  accident  happens  to  you.  I  have  tried  to  treat  you 
kindly,  and  beg  of  you,  for  my  sake,  not  to  drown  yourself  or  fall  into 
the  river  again.' " 

"  But  don't  a  good  many  escape  from  Siberia,  and  either  go  back  to 
their  homes  or  get  to  foreign  countries  ?" 

"  The  number  of  escapes  is  not  large,"  Mr.  liegeman  answered,  "  as  the 
difficulties  of  getting  out  of  the  country  are  very  great.  In  the  first  place, 
there  is  the  immense  distance  from  the  middle  of  Siberia  to  Moscow  or  St. 
Petersburg,  or,  worse  still,,  to  Poland.  Nobody  can  hire  horses  at  a  station 
without  showing  his  paderojnia,  and  this  is  only  issued  by  the  police-mas- 
ter, who  knows  the  name  and  probably  the  face  of  every  exile  in  his  dis- 
trict. Even  if  a  man  gets  a  paderojnia  by  fraud,  his  absence  would  soon 
be  discovered,  and  his  flight  can  be  stopped  by  the  use  of  the  telegraph. 

"  If  an  exile  should  try  to  get  out  of  the  country  by  going  northward 
he  would  be  stopped  by  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.  If  he  goes  to  the 
south  he  enters  China,  or  the  inhospitable  regions  of  Central  Asia,  where  it 
is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  a  European  to  travel  alone. 

"  Occasionally  some  one  escapes  by  way  of  the  Amoor  River,  or  the 
ports  of  the  Okhotsk  Sea ;  but  there  are  not  many  ships  entering  and 
leaving  those  ports,  and  the  police  keep  a  sharp  watch  over  them  to  make 
sure  that  they  do  not  carry  away  more  men  than  they  bring.  I  once  met 
in  Paris  a  Pole  who  had  escaped  from  Siberia  by  this  route.  By  some 
means  that  he  would  not  reveal  to  me,  he  managed  to  get  out  of  the 


ESCAPING   FROM   .SIBERIA. 


32.f 


Amoor  River  and  cross  to  the  island  of  Saghalin.  The  southern  half  of  the 
island  was  then  in  possession  of  the  Japanese,  and  he  lived  among  them 
for  several  months.  Then  he  got  on  board  an  American  whaling-ship,  and 
worked  his  passage  to  San  Francisco,  where  he  found  some  countrymen, 
who  helped  him  on  his  wTay  to  Paris. 

"  I  know  another  man,  a  Russian  nobleman,  who  escaped  from  Siberia 
and  went  back  over  the  route  by  which  he  had  come.     For  convenience  I 


^,.a^-2^Wr^^i^^3-5^^ 


TWO    EXILED    FRIENDS    MEETING. 


will  call  him  Ivanoff,  though  that  was  not  his  name.  He  accomplished  it 
in  this  way : 

"  He  had  concealed  quite  a  sum  of  money  about  his  person,  which  the 
guards  failed  to  find  after  searching  him  repeated  ly.  His  offence  was 
political,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  twenty  years'  exile.  While  his  convoy 
was  on  the  road  between  Krasnoyarsk  and  Irkutsk,  he  arranged  to  change 
names  with  Petrovitch,  a  criminal  who  had  been  sentenced  to  three  years' 
banishment,  and  was  to  remain  near  Irkutsk.  Ivanoff  was  to  go  beyond 
Lake  Baikal,  whence  escape  is  much  more  difficult.  For  one  hundred 
roubles  the  criminal  consented  to  the  change,  and  to  take  his  chances  for 
the  result. 

"  The  substitution  was  made  at  the  depot  in  Irkutsk,  where  the  names 


326 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


were  called  off  and  the  new  convoys  made  out.  The  convoy  for  the  trans- 
Baikal  was  first  made  up,  and  when  I  van  off  s  name  was  read  the  burglar 
stepped  forward  and  answered  the  question  as  to  his  sentence.  The  offi- 
cers who  had  accompanied  them  from  Krasnoyarsk  were  not  present,  and 
so  there  was  no  great  danger  of  the  fraud  being  discovered  ;  the  convoy 
was  made  up,  the  new  officers  moved  off,  and  that  was  the  last  my  friend 
saw  of  his  hired  substitute. 

"Ivanoff  (under  his  new  name  of  Petrovitch)  was  sent  to  live  in  a 
village  about  twenty  miles  from  Irkutsk,  and  required  to  report  twice  a 


ESCAPING    EXILES   CROSSING   A    STREAM. 


week  to  the  police.  lie  found  employment  witli  a  peasant  farmer,  and 
managed  to  communicate  with  a  friend  in  Irkutsk,  though  not  without 
much  difficulty.  The  peasant  used  to  send  him  to  market  with  the 
produce  of  the  farm,  as  he  found  that  Ivanoff  could  obtain  better 
prices  than  himself;  the  fact  was  he  generally  sold  to  his  friend,  who 
purposely  overpaid  him,  and  if  he  did  not  find  his  friend  lie  added  a  little 
to  the  amount  out   of  his  own  pocket.     Ivanoff  and  his  friend  haggled 


GOOD   USE   OF  MONEY. 


327 


a  great  deal  over  their  transactions,  and  thus  conversed  without  arousing 
suspicion. 

"  Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  some  months,  and  the  good  conduct 
of  the  apparently  reformed  criminal  won  him  the  favor  of  the  police-mas- 
ter to  whom  lie  was  required  to  report.  His  time  of  reporting  was  ex- 
tended to  once  a  week,  and  later  to  once  a  month.  This  gave  him  the 
chance  of  escaping. 

"  By  a  judicious  use  of  his  money  he  secured  the  silence  of  his  em- 
ployer and  obtained  a  paderojnia  of  the  second  class.     The  day  after  re- 


1VANOFFS    CAVE. 


porting  to  the  police  he  went  to  fish  in  the  Angara,  the  river  that  flows 
past  Irkutsk  and  has  a  very  swift  current.  As  soon  as  he  was  missed  his 
employer  led  the  search  in  the  direction  of  the  river.  The  coat,  basket, 
and  fishing-rod  of  the  unfortunate  man  \ay  on  the  bank ;  it  was  easy  to 
see  that  he  had  been  standing  on  a  stone  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  the 


328  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

stone  having  given  way  the  river  had  swallowed  Ivanoff,  and  carried  Ins 
body  away  towards  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Some  money  was  in  the  pocket  of 
the  coat,  and  was  appropriated  by  the  officers. 

"  But  instead  of  being  drowned,  Ivanoff  was  safely  concealed  in  a  cave 
under  a  large  rock  in  the  forest.  He  had  found  it  on  one  of  his  hunting 
excursions,  and  had  previously  conveyed  to  it  a  quantity  of  provisions,  to- 
gether with  some  clothing  supplied  by  his  friend  in  Irkutsk.  There  he 
remained  for  a  fortnight ;  then  he  went  to  Irkutsk,  and  started  on  his 
journey. 

"People  leaving  Irkutsk  frequently  drive  to  the  first  station  in  their 
own  vehicles,  and  there  hire  the  carriages  of  the  posting  service.  So  one 
evening  Ivanoff  rode  out  to  the  station  in  a  carriage  hired  in  front  of  the 
hotel.  lie  did  not  tell  me,  but  I  suspect  that  his  friend  supplied  the  car- 
riage, and  possibly  handled  the  reins  himself. 

"At  the  station  he  boldly  exhibited  his  paderojnia  and  demanded 
horses,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  was  on  the  road.  Safe '  Well,  he  could 
never  tell  whether  he  was  safe  or  not,  as  the  telegraph  might  at  any  mo- 
ment flash  an  order  for  his  detention. 

"  On  and  on  he  went.  He  pretended  to  be,  and  really  was,  in  a  great 
hurry.  He  was  liberal  to  the  drivers,  but  not  over-liberal,  lest  he  might 
be  suspected.  Suspicion  would  lead  to  inquiry,  and  inquiry  would  be  fol- 
lowed by  arrest.  But  he  obtained  the  best  speed  that  could  be  had  for  a 
careful  use  of  money,  and  was  compelled  to  be  satisfied. 

"  Several  times  he  thought  he  had  been  discovered,  and  his  feelings 
were  those  of  intense  agony.  At  one  of  the  large  stations  the  smotretal 
came  to  him  with  an  open  telegram  which  said  a  prisoner  was  missing, 
and  orders  had  been  sent  along  the  line  to  watch  for  him. 

"  Ivanoff  took  the  telegram  and  read  it.  Then  he  noted  down  the  de- 
scription of  the  fugitive  (happily  not  himself),  and  told  the  smotretal  to 
take  no  further  trouble  till  he  heard  from  him,  but  to  keep  a  sharp  watch 
for  all  new  arrivals.  '  Unless  I  telegraph  you  from  the  next  town,'  said 
he,  '  you  may  be  sure  that  he  has  not  passed  any  of  the  intervening  sta- 
tions.' 

"  He  went  on,  and  heard  no  more  of  the  matter.  At  another  point  he 
fell  in  with  a  Russian  captain  going  the  same  way  as  himself.  The  captain 
proposed  they  should  travel  together,  for  the  double  purpose  of  compan- 
ionship and  economy.  Much  as  he  disliked  the  proposal,  he  was  forced  to 
accede,  as  a  refusal  might  rouse  suspicion. 

"  Luckily  for  him,  his  new  friend  was  garrulous,  and  did  most  of  the 
talking ;  but,  like  most  garrulous  people,  he  was  inquisitive,  and  some  of 


A  DISAGREEABLE  MEETING. 


329 


EXILES    AMONG    THE    MOUNTAINS. 


Lis  queries  were  decidedly  unpleasant.  Ivanoff  had  foreseen  just  such  a 
circumstance,  and  made  up  a  plausible  story.  He  had  just  come  to  Sibe- 
ria, and  only  three  days  after  his  arrival  was  summoned  back  by  the  an- 
nouncement of  his  father's  death.  His  presence  was  needed  in  St.  Peters- 
burg to  arrange  the  financial  affairs  of  the  family. 

"  By  this  story  he  could  account  for  knowing  nobody  in  Siberia ;  and 
as  he  was  well  acquainted  with  St.  Petersburg  he  could  talk  as  freely  as 
one  might  wish  about  the  affairs  of  the  capital.  He  was  thrown  into  a 
cold  perspiration  at  one  of  the  stations,  where  his  garrulous  companion 
proposed,  as  a  matter  of  whiling  away  the  time  after  breakfast,  that  they 
should  examine  the  register  for  the  record  of  their  journeys  eastward. 
Ivanoff  managed  to  put  the  idea  out  of  his  head,  and  ever  after  made  their 
stay  at  the  stations  as  short  as  possible. 


330  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

''Imagine  Ivanoff's  feelings  when  one  day  the  other  said, 

"'Exiles  sometimes  escape  by  getting  forged  passports  and  travelling 
on  them.     "Wouldn't  it  be  funny  if  you  were  one?     Ha!  ha!  ha!' 

"  Of  course  Ivanoff  laughed  too,  and  quite  as  heartily.  Then  he  re- 
torted, 

'"Now  that  you  mentioned  it,  I've  half  a  mind  to  take  you  to  the 
next  police-station  and  deliver  you  up  as  a  fugitive.  Ha!  ha!  ha!  Sup- 
pose we  do  it,  and  have  some  fun  with  the  police  V 

"  Thereupon  the  serious  side  of  the  affair  developed  in  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Garrulity.  He  declined  the  fun  of  the  thing,  and  soon  the  subject 
was  dropped.  It  was  occasionally  referred  to  afterwards,  and  each  thought 
how  funny  it  would  be  if  the  other  were  really  a  fugitive. 

"  They  continued  in  company  until  they  reached  Kazan.  There  they 
separated,  Ivanoff  going  to  Nijni  Novgorod  and  Moscow,  and  from  the 
latter  proceeding  by  railway  to  Smolensk  and  Warsaw.  From  Warsaw  he 
went  to  Vienna.  As  soon  as  he  set  foot  on  the  soil  of  Austria  he  removed 
his  hat  and,  for  the  first  time  in  many  months,  inhaled  a  full  breath  of  air 
without  the  feeling  that  the  next  moment  might  see  him  in  the  hands  of 
the  dreaded  police.     He  was  now  a  free  man." 

"And  what  became  of  his  companion?" 

"When  they  separated  at  Kazan,  the  latter  announced  his  intention  of 
descending  the  Volga  to  Astraehan.  It  was  fully  a  year  afterwards  that 
my  friend  was  passing  a  cafe  in  Paris,  and  heard  his  assumed  name  called 
by  some  one  seated  under  the  awning  in  front  of  the  establishment.  Turn- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the  voice,  he  saw  his  old  acquaintance  of  the  Sibe- 
rian road. 

"  They  embraced,  and  were  soon  sipping  coffee  together.  Ivanoff 
talked  freely,  now  that  he  was  out  of  danger  of  discovery,  and  astonished 
his  old  acquaintance  by  his  volubility.     At  length  the  latter  said, 

" '  What  a  flow  of  language  you  have  here  in  Paris,  to  be  sure.  You 
never  talked  so  much  in  a  whole  day  when  we  were  together  as  in  the 
hour  we've  sat  here.' 

"'Good  reason  for  it,'  answered  Ivanoff.  'I  had  a  bridle  on  my 
tongue  then,  and  it's  gone  now.  I  was  escaping  from  a  sentence  of  twen- 
ty years  in  Siberia  for  political  reasons.' 

'"And  that's  what  made  you  so  taciturn,'  said  the  other.  'I  was 
escaping  from  the  same  thing,  and  that's  what  made  me  so  garrulous. 
When  we  met  at  that  station  I  feared  you  might  be  on  the  lookout 
for  me ;  and  much  as  I  hated  doing  so,  I  proposed  that  we  should  travel 
together.' 


SECRET   KOAD  THROUGH  SIBERIA. 


331 


"  They  Lad  a  good  laugh  over  the  circumstances  of  their  journey, 
where  each  was  in  mortal  terror  of  the  other.  The  one  was  talkative  and 
the  other  silent  for  exactly  the  same  reason — to  disarm  suspicion. 

"I  could  tell  you  other  stories  of  escaping  from  exile,  but  this  one 
is  a  fair  sample  of  them  all.  Of  those  who  attempt  to  leave  the  country 
not  one  in  twenty  ever  succeeds,  owing  to  the  difficulties  I  have  men- 
tioned, and  the  watchfulness  of 
the  police.  The  peasants  of  Si- 
beria will  generally  help  an  escap- 
ing exile,  but  they  do  not  dare  to 
do  it  openly.  Many  of  them  put 
loaves  of  bread  outside  their  win- 
dows at  night,  so  that  the  runa- 
ways can  come  and  obtain  food 
without  being  seen.  They  plant 
little  patches  of  turnips  near  the 
villages  for  the  same  reason,  and 
call  them  gifts  to  the  'unfortu- 
nates.' "Whenever  the  soldiers 
rind  any  of  these  turnip-patches 
they  destroy  them,  in  order  to 
hinder  the  progress  of  fugitives. 

"  There  is  said  to  be  a  secret 
road  or  path  through  Siberia 
known  only  to  the  exiles ;  it  is 
about  two  thousand  miles  long, 
avoids  all  the  regular  lines  of 
travel,  and  keeps  away  from  the 
towns  and  villages.     It  winds  over 

plains  and  among  the  mountains,  through  forests  and  near  the  rivers,  and 
is  marked  by  little  mounds  of  earth,  and  by  notches  cut  in  the  trees. 

"  Those  who  travel  this  road  must  undergo  great  hardship,  and  it  is  said 
that  not  more  than  half  who  undertake  it  are  ever  heard  of  again.  They 
perish  of  starvation  or  cold,  or  may  venture  too  near  the  villages  in  search 
of  food,  and  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  police.  The  path  must  be  travelled 
on  foot,  as  it  is  not  sufficiently  broad  for  horses;  and  when  any  part  of  it 
is  discovered  by  the  soldiers  the  route  must  be  changed.  The  exiles  have 
means  of  communicating  with  each  other,  and  no  matter  how  closely  the 
authorities  may  watch  them,  an  occurrence  in  one  Siberian  prison  will 
soon  be  known  at  all  others  in  the  country." 


SIBERIAN    PEASANTS. 


332 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMFIRE. 


Frank  asked  Mr.  liegeman  if  he  had  ever  seen  any  prisoners  in  Siberia 
wearing  chains  ? 

"  Many  of  them,"  was  the  reply,  "  especially  in  the  prisons  in  the 
towns,  and  at  the  jjlaces  where  they  are  kept  at  hard  labor.  The  simple 
exiles  are  not  required  to  wear  chains ;  it  is  only  those  condemned  to  hard 


SIBERIAN    MILK-WOMEN. 


labor  for  a  long  term  of  years  that  are  thus  oppressed.  By  an  old  law  of 
Russia  the  chains  must  not  weigh  more  than  five  pounds ;  there  is  a  belt 
around  the  waist,  and  from  this  belt  a  chain  extends  to  an  iron  band  around 
each  ankle.  The  clanking  of  the  chains,  either  on  the  road  or  in  the  pris- 
ons, has  a  most  horrible  sound. 

"  The  continued  use  of  this  relic  of  barbarism  is  strenuously  opposed 
by  a  great  many  Russians.  "With  the  exception  of  the  l  ball  and  chain,' 
which  is  a  form  of  military  punishment  everywhere,  no  other  Christian 
nation  now  requires  its  prisoners  to  wear  chains  continually.  If  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia  would  issue  a  decree  that  henceforth  no  prisoner  shall  be 
put  in  chains  except  for  specially  unruly  conduct  or  other  good  cause,  and 


A  PAUSE,  AND  THE  SEASON   FOE  IT. 


333 


SIBERIA    IN    SUMMER. 


abolish  altogether  the  present  regulations  about  chains,  he  would  take  a 
long  advance  step  for  his  nation." 

Doctor  Bronson  and  the  youths  agreed  with  him.  Fred  was  about  to 
ask  a  question  when  one  of  the  stewards  made  the  announcement,  "Obed 
gotovey,  gospoda  /"  ("  Dinner  is  ready,  gentlemen !") 

Siberia  and  its  exiles  were  forgotten  for  the  time,  as  the  party  ad- 
journed to  the  dining-saloon  of  the  steamer. 


334  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  SIBERIAN  POPULATION1.  —  ABSENCE  OF  SERFDOM,  AND  ITS 
EFFECT. —A  RUSSIAN  FETE.  —  AMUSEMENTS  OF  THE  PEASANTRY. —  COURTSHIP 
AND  MARRIAGE.  —  CURIOUS  CUSTOMS.  —  WHIPPING  A  WIFE.  —  OVERLAND 
THROUGH  SIBERIA  AGAIN.— CHETAH  AND  THE  BOURIATS.— IN  A  BOURIAT  VIL- 
LAGE.—VERCKNE  UDINSK.— SIBERIAN  ROBBERS.— TEA-TRAINS  AND  TEA-TRADE. 
— KIACHTA.—  LODGED  BY  THE  POLICE.— TRADE   BETWEEN   RUSSIA  AND  CHLNA. 

WHEN  the  conversation  about  Siberia  was  resumed,  Frank  suggested 
that  there  must  be  a  great  many  people  in  that  country  who  were 
descended  from  exiles,  since  it  had  been  for  a  long  time  a  place  of  banish- 
ment, and  the  exiles  were  accompanied  in  many  cases  by  their  families. 

"  Your  supposition  is  correct,"  said  Mr.  Hegeman ;  "  the  descendants 
of  exiles  are  probably  more  numerous  to-day  than  are  the  exiles  themselves. 
Eastern  Siberia  is  mainly  peopled  by  them,  and  Western  Siberia  very  large- 
ly so.  All  serfs  exiled  to  Siberia  under  the  system  prevailing  before  the 
emancipation  became  free  peasants,  and  could  not  be  restored  to  their 
former  condition  of  servitude. 

"  Many  descendants  of  exiles  have  become  wealthy  through  commerce 
or  gold-mining,  and  occupy  positions  which  they  never  could  have  obtained 
in  European  Russia.  When  I  visited  Irkutsk  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
a  merchant  whose  fortune  ran  somewhere  in  the  millions.  He  had  a  large 
house,  with  a  whole  retinue  of  servants,  and  lived  very  expensively.  He 
was  the  son  of  an  exiled  serf,  and  made  his  fortune  in  the  tea-trade. 

"Many  prominent  merchants  and  gold-miners  were  mentioned  as  ex- 
amples of  the  prosperity  of  the  second  and  third  generations  from  exiles. 
Of  those  who  had  made  their  own  fortunes  in  the  country  the  instances 
were  by  no  means  few.  One,  an  old  man,  who  was  said  to  have  a  large 
fortune  and  a  charming  family  of  well-educated  children,  was  pointed  out 
as  an  illustration  of  the  benefits  of  exile.  Forty  years  before  that  time  he 
was  sent  to  Siberia  by  his  master  out  of  the  merest  caprice.  In  Siberia  he 
obtained  fortune  and  social  position.  Had  he  remained  in  Europe  he 
would  probably  have  continued  a  simple  peasant,  and  reared  his  children 


EXILES   PREFERRING   SIBERIA   TO   EUROPE. 


335 


"  The  advantages  of  Siberia  are  further  shown  by  the  fact  that  a  great 
many  exiles  decline  to  return  to  European  Russia  after  their  terms  of 
service  are  ended.  Especially  is  this  the  case  with  those  who  are  doing 
well  financially,  or  have  families  with  them,  either  from  their  old  homes 


AN     EXILE    PEASANT    AND    HIS     FRIENDS. 


or  by  marriage  in  Siberia.  I  talked  with  several  intelligent  Poles,  who 
said  they  did  not  intend  returning  to  Poland.  'We  were  drawn  unwill- 
ingly into  the  acts  that  caused  our  banishment,'  they  said,  'and  may  suffer 
again  in  the  same  way  if  we  go  home  ;  in  Siberia  there  are  no  disturbing 
influences  around  us,  and  we  prefer  to  stay  here.'  On  the  other  hand,  the 
love  of  home  is  very  strong  with  many  exiles,  and  they  take  the  first  op- 
portunity of  leaving  the  country  of  their  banishment." 


336 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


Fred  asked  if  they  had  the  same  system  of  serfdom  in  Siberia  before 
the  emancipation  as  in  European  Russia. 

"  At  the  time  of  the  emancipation,"  said  Mr.  liegeman, "  there  was 
only  one  proprietor  of  serfs  in  all  Siberia ;  he  was  the  grandson  of  a  gen- 
tleman who  received  a  grant  of  land,  with  serfs,  from  Catherine  II.  None 
of  the  family,  with  a  single  exception,  ever  attemjrted  to  exercise  more 
than  nominal  authority,  and  that  one  was  murdered  in  consequence  of  en- 
forcing his  full  proprietary  rights. 

"  Siberia  was  a  land  of  freedom,  so  far  as  serfs  were  concerned.  The 
system  of  serfdom  never  had  any  foothold  there.     The  Siberians  say  that 


A    SIBERIAN    LANDSCAPE. 


the  superior  prosperity  enjoyed  by  the  peasants  of  their  part  of  Russia 
had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  emancipation  measures  of  Alexander  II. 
The  Siberian  peasants  were  noticeably  better  fed,  clothed,  and  educated 
than  the  corresponding  class  in  European  Russia,  and  the  absence  of  mas- 
ters gave  them  an  air  of  independence.  Distinctions  were  much  less 
marked  among  the  people,  and  in  many  instances  the  officials  associated 
familiarly  with  men  they  would  have  hesitated  to  recognize  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Ural  Mountains." 

"It  sounds  odd  enough  to  talk  ahout  Siberia  as  a  land  of  freedom," 
said  Fred, "  when  we've  always  been  accustomed  to  associate  the  name  of 
the  country  with  imprisonment." 

Just  then  the  steamer  stopped  at  one  of  its  regular  landings :  and  as 
she  was  to  be  there  for  an  hour  or  more,  the  party  took  a  stroll  on  shore. 


CHILDREN'S  AMUSEMENTS. 


33  7 


There  were  only  two  or  three  houses  at  the  landing-place,  the  town  which 
it  supplied  lying  a  little  back  from  the  river,  upon  ground  higher  than  the 
bank. 

It  happened  to  be  a  holiday,  and  there  was  quite  a  group  at  the  land- 
ing-place. The  peasants  were  in  their  best  clothes,  and  several  games  were 
in  progress.  Frank  and  Fred  hardly  knew  which  way  to  turn,  as  there 
were  several  things  they  wished  to  see  all  at  once. 

Some  girls  were  in  a  circle,  with  their  hands  joined  ;  they  were  sing- 
ing songs  which  had  a  good  deal  of  melody,  and  the  whole  performance 


GIIILS    PLAYING    AT    SKAKIET. 


reminded  the  youths  of  the  "  round-a-ring-a-rosy "  game  of  their  native 
land.  Close  by  this  group  were  two  girls  playing  a  game  which  was 
called  skakiet  in  Russian.  They  had  a  board  balanced  on  its  centre,  and  a 
girl  stood  on  each  end  of  the  board.  The  maidens  jumped  alternately  into 
the  air,  and  the  descent  of  one  caused  her  companion  to  go  higher  each 
time.  Mr.  liegeman  said  it  was  a  favorite  amusement  in  the  Russian  vil- 
lages. It  required  a  little  practice,  as  the  successful  performer  must  main- 
tain a  perfectly  upright  position.  Two  girls  who  are  skilled  at  the  game 
will  sometimes  keep  up  this  motion  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  without 
apparent  fatigue. 

Among  the  men  there  were  wrestling-matches,  which  were  conducted 
with  a  good  deal  of  vigor.  Frank  observed  that  some  of  the  wrestlers  re- 
ceived very  ugly  falls,  but  did  not  seem  to  mind  them  in  the  least.  The 
Russian  peasantry  are  capable  of  rough  handling.     They  are  accustomed 

22 


338 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


to  it  all  their  lives,  and  not  at  all  disturbed  by  anything  of  an  ordinary 
character.  They  resemble  the  lower  classes  of  the  English  populace  more 
than  any  other  people. 

The  women  are  more  refined  than  the  men  in  their  amusements.  Sing- 
ing and  dancing  are  very  popular  among  them,  and  they  have  quite  a  vari- 
ety of  dances.  A  favorite  dance  is  in  couples,  where  they  spin  round 
and  round,  until  one  of  the  pair  drops  or  sits  down  from  sheer  fatigue. 

As  our  friends  strolled  near  the  river-bank  they  came  upon  a  group  of 


niXAGE    FESTIVAL. 


women  engaged  in  one  of  these  dances.  Three  or  four  of  the  by-standers 
were  singing,  and  thus  supplied  the  music;  two  women  stood  facing  each 
other  in  the  centre  of  the  group,  each  with  her  hands  resting  on  her  hips. 
One  of  the  singers  raised  her  hands,  and  at  this  signal  the  whirling  began. 
"When  this  couple  was  tired  out  another  came  forward,  and  so  the  dance 
was  kept  up.     Fred  thought  the  dress  of  the  dancers  was  not  particularly 


RUSSIAN   COURTSHIPS.  339 

graceful,  as  each  woman  wore  stout  boots  instead  of  shoes.  They  had  al- 
ready observed  that  the  old-fashioned  boot  is  not  by  any  means  confined 
to  the  sterner  sex  among  the  Russian  peasantry. 

Some  of  the  women  wore  flowers  in  their  hair,  but  the  majority  of  the 
heads  were  covered  with  handkerchiefs.  Doctor  Bronson  explained  to  the 
youths  that  a  woman  may  wear  her  hair  loosely  while  she  is  unmarried, 
but  when  she  becomes  a  wife  she  wraps  it  in  a  kerchief,  or  encloses  it  in 
a  net. 

Naturally  this  explanation  by  the  Doctor  led  to  a  question  about  mar- 
riage customs  in  Russia. 

"  Courtship  in  Russia  is  not  like  the  same  business  in  America,"  re- 
marked the  Doctor,  in  reply  to  the  query.  "  A  good  deal  of  it  has  to  be 
done  by  proxy." 

"How  is  that?" 

"  When  a  young  fellow  wishes  to  take  a  wife,  he  looks  around  among 
the  young  women  of  his  village  and  selects  the  one  that  best  pleases  him. 
Then  he  sends  a  messenger — his  mother,  or  some  other  woman  of  middle 
age — to  the  parents  of  the  girl,  with  authority  to  begin  negotiations.  If 
they  can  agree  upon  the  terms  of  the  proposed  marriage,  the  amount  of 
dowry  the  bride  is  to  receive,  and  other  matters  bearing  on  the  subject,  the 
swain  receives  a  favorable  report.  Sometimes  the  parents  of  the  girl  are 
opposed  to  the  match,  and  will  not  listen  to  any  proposals ;  in  such  case 
the  affair  ends  at  once,  the  girl  herself  having  nothing  to  say  in  the  matter. 
Quite  likely  she  may  never  know  anj'thing  about  it. 

"  The  whole  business  is  arranged  between  the  elders  who  have  it  in 
charge.  The  custom  seems  to  be  largely  Oriental  in  its  character,  though 
partaking  somewhat  of  the  marriage  ways  of  France  and  other  European 
countries. 

"  Supposing  the  negotiations  to  have  resulted  favorably,  the  young 
man  is  notified  when  he  can  begin  his  visits  to  the  bouse  of  his  beloved. 
He  dresses  in  his  best  clothes  (very  much  as  an  American  youth  would  do 
under  similar  circumstances),  and  calls  at  the  appointed  time.  He  carries 
a  present  of  some  kind — and  the  long-established  custom  requires  that  he 
must  never  make  a  call  during  his  courtship  without  bringing  a  present. 
One  of  the  gifts  must  be  a  shawl." 

"In  that  case,"  said  Fred,  "the  young  men  are  probably  favorable  to 
short  courtships,  while  the  girls  would  be  in  no  hurry.  If  every  visit 
must  bring  a  present,  a  long  courtship  would  heap  up  a  fine  lot  of  gifts." 

"  That  is  quite  true,"  Doctor  Bronson  replied,  "  and  instances  have 
been  known  where  the  match  was  broken  off  after  the  patience  and  pocket 


340 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


of  the  suitor  were  exhausted.  But  he  has  a  right  to  demand  a  return  of 
his  presents  in  such  an  event." 

"  And,  as  has  happened  in  similar  cases  in  America,"  Frank  retorted, 
"  lie  does  not  always  get  them." 

"Quite  true,"  said  the  Doctor,  with  a  smile;  "but  the  family  playing 
such  a  trick  would  not  find  other  suitors  very  speedily.  Human  nature  is 
the  same  in  all  countries,  and  even  the  young  man  in  love  is  shy  of  being 
defrauded. 

"  But  we  will  suppose  everything  has  gone  favorably,"  the  Doctor  con- 
tinued, "and  the  suitor  has  been  accepted.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  Eussian 


RUSSIAN    TEASANT   WOMEN. 


courtships  are  short,  only  a  month  or  two.  and  possibly  for  the  reason  you 
suggested.  A  day  is  fixed  for  the  betrothal,  and  the  ceremony  takes  place 
in  the  presence  of  the  families  of  both  the  parties  to  the  engagement. 
The  betrothal  is  virtually  a  marriage  ceremony,  as  it  binds  the  two  so 
firmly  together  that  only  the  most  serious  reasons  can  separate  them. 
The  betrothal  ceremony  is  at  the  house  of  the  bride's  parents,  and  is  fol- 
lowed in  due  course  by  the  wedding,  which  takes  place  in  church. 

'•  Custom   requires  that  the  bride   shall  supply  a   certain   quantity  of 


RUSSIAN   WEDDINGS.  341 

linen  and  other  household  property,  while  the  husband  provides  the  dwell- 
ing and  certain  specified  articles  of  furniture.  Between  them  they  should 
be  able  to  set  up  house-keeping  immediately,  but  there  are  probably  many 
cases  where  they  cannot  do  so.  Among  well-to-do  people  the  bride  pro- 
vides a  dozen  shirts,  a  dressing-gown,  and  a  pair  of  slippers  for  her  hus- 
band ;  she  is  supposed  to  spin  the  flax,  weave  it  into  cloth,  and  make  the 
shirts  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  she  buys  the  material,  and  very  often  gets 
the  garments  ready-made. 

"  For  a  day  or  two  before  the  wedding,  all  the  dowry  of  the  bride  is 
exhibited  in  a  room  set  apart  for  the  purpose ;  a  priest  blesses  it  with  holy 
water,  and  friends  call  to  gaze  upon  the  matrimonial  trophies.  Among 
the  middle  and  upper  classes  the  bridegroom  gives  a  dinner  to  his  bache- 
lor friends,  as  in  some  other  countries,  the  evening  before  the  wedding ; 
the  bride  on  the  same  evening  assembles  her  companions,  who  join  in 
singing  farewell  to  her.  The  bridegroom  sends  them  a  liberal  supply  of 
candy,  cakes,  bonbons,  and  the  like,  and  they  indulge  in  quite  a  festivity. 

"  Among  the  peasants  the  companions  of  the  bride  accompany  her  to 
the  bath  on  the  evening  before  the  wedding,  and  both  going  and  returning 
she  is  expected  to  weep  bitterly  and  loudly.  An  English  lady  tells  how 
she  heard  a  Russian  girl,  who  was  about  to  be  married,  giving  vent  to  the 
wildest  grief,  while  her  companions  were  trying  to  cheer  her  bv  singing. 
The  lady  felt  very  sorry  for  the  poor  maiden,  and  rejoiced  when  she 
passed  out  of  hearing. 

"A  little  later  in  the  evening  the  lady  went  with  a  friend  to  call  at 
the  bride's  cottage,  and  entered  cpiite  unannounced.  The  bride  was  sup- 
ping heartily,  her  face  full  of  expressions  of  joy ;  the  Englishwoman  was 
startled  and  still  more  surprised  when  the  girl  asked, 

'"Didn't  I  do  it  well?' 

"It  then  came  out  that  the  weeping  was  all  a  farce,  though  there  may 
be  cases  where  it  is  not  so. 

"On  the  day  of  the  wedding  the  bride  and  groom  do  not  see  each 
other  until  they  meet  in  church.  After  the  ceremony  the  whole  party 
goes  to  the  house  of  the  bride's  parents,  where  a  reception  is  held  in  honor 
of  the  event.  When  it  is  over,  the  young  couple  go  to  their  own  home,  if 
they  have  one ;  the  next  morning  all  the  parents  and  relatives  go  and  take 
coffee  with  the  newly  married  ;  then  there  are  dinner-parties  at  the  houses 
of  both  pairs  of  parents ;  other  parties  and  dinners  follow,  and  sometimes 
the  feasting  is  kept  up  for  a  week  or  more,  it  is  a  trying  ordeal  for  nil 
concerned,  and  there  is  general  rejoicing  when  the  festivities  are  over. 

"  Among  the  peasantry  it  is  the  custom,  at  least  in  some  parts  of  Rus- 


342 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS    IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMI>IRE. 


sia,  for  the  bride  to  present  a  whip  to  her  husband  the  day  after  the  wed- 
ding. This  whip  is  hung  at  the  head  of  the  bed,  and,  if  report  is  true,  it 
is  not  unfrequently  used." 

"I  remember  seeing  a  whip  hanging  at  the  head  of  the  bed  in  some  of 
the  houses  we  have  visited,"  said  Fred,  "  and  wondered  what  it  was  there 
for." 

''The  curious  thing  about  the  matter  is,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "that 
a  good  many  wives  expect  the  whip  to  be  used.     The  same  lady  I  just  re- 


SIAKIXG    CALLS    AKTL'R    A    Wh.DDIXG. 


ferred  to  says  that  one  of  her  nurse-maids  left  her  to  be  married.  A  short 
time  after  the  marriage  she  went  to  the  nachalnik,  or  justice  of  the  peace, 
of  her  village,  and  complained  that  her  husband  did  not  love  her.  The 
nachalnik  asked  how  she  knew  it,  and  the  young  wife  replied, 

" '  Because  he  has  not  whipped  me  once  since  we  were  married  !' 
"Among  the  peasantry  the  married  couple  goes  to  the  house  of  the 
owner  of  the  estate  to  receive  his  blessing.     He  comes  to  the  door  and 
welcomes  them  as  they  bow  in  front  of  him  till  their  foreheads  nearly 
touch  the  ground." 

The  steamer's  whistle  recalled  the  party,  and  in  a  little  while  they 
were  again  on  their  voyage.  Mr.  liegeman  resumed  the  story  of  his  ride 
through  Siberia  as  soon  as  all  were  seated  in  their  accustomed  places. 


WEDDING  FORMALITIES. 


343 


<s    A 


344  THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN    EMPIRE. 

"I  think  we  were  at  Xertchinsk,"  said  lie,  "when  we  turned  aside  to 
the  mines  where  the  exiles  were  formerly  employed." 

"Yes,"  replied  Fred;  "you  had  just  arrived  at  the  house  of  the  friend 
of  your  companion,  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  remain  for  dinner." 

"That  was  it,  exactly,"  responded  the  traveller.  "AYe  had  an  excel- 
lent dinner,  and  soon  after  it  was  over  we  continued  on  our  journey.  We 
sent  back  the  tarantasse  which  we  had  hired  from  the  station-master,  and 
obtained  a  larger  and  better  one  from  our  host. 

"Two  nights  and  the  intervening  day  brought  us,  without  any  incident 
worth  remembering,  to  Chetah,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  the  trans-Bai- 
kal. It  is  a  town  of  four  or  five  thousand  inhabitants,  and  stands  on  the 
Ingodah  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Shilka.  Below  this  point  the  river  is 
navigable  for  boats  and  rafts,  and  it  was  here  that  General  Mouravieff 
organized  the  expedition  for  the  conquest  of  the  Amoor.  A  considerable 
garrison  is  kept  here,  and  the  town  has  an  important  place  in  the  historv 
of  Siberian  exile.  Many  of  the  houses  are  large  and  well  built.  The  offi- 
cers of  the  garrison  have  a  club,  and  ordinarily  the  society  includes  a  good 
many  ladies  from  European  Russia. 

"  I  stopped  two  or  three  days  at  Chetah,  and  my  courier  friend  con- 
tinued his  journey.  Finding  a  young  officer  who  was  going  to  Kiachta, 
on  the  frontier  of  Mongolia,  I  arranged  to  accompany  him,  and  one  even- 
ing we  started.  I  think  I  have  before  told  you  that  a  Siberian  journey 
nearly  always  begins  in  the  evening,  and  is  continued  day  and  night  till  its 
close.  The  day  is  passed  in  making  calls,  and  usually  winds  up  with  a  din- 
ner at  somebody's  house.  After  dinner,  and  generally  pretty  late  in  the 
evening,  the  last  call  is  made,  the  last  farewells  are  spoken,  and  you  bun- 
dle into  your  vehicle  and  are  off. 

"  From  Chetah  the  road  steadily  climbed  the  hills,  and  my  companion 
said  we  would  soon  be  over  the  ridge  of  the  Yablonnoi  Mountains,  and  in 
the  basin  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.  From  the  eastern  slope  of  the  mountains 
the  rivers  flow  through  the  Amoor  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  from  the  western 
slope  they  run  into  Lake  Baikal,  and  thence  through  the  outlet  of  that  lake 
to  the  great  frozen  sea  that  surrounds  the  pole.  The  cold  rapidly  in- 
creased, and  when  we  crossed  the  ridge  it  seemed  that  the  thermometer 
went  ten  degrees  lower  in  almost  as  many  minutes. 

"The  country  through  which  we  passed  was  flat  or  slightly  undulating, 
with  occasional  stretches  of  hills  of  no  great  height.  There  are  few  Rus- 
sian villages,  the  principal  inhabitants  being  Bouriats.  a  people  of  Mongol 
origin,  who  are  said  to  have  been  conquered  by  the  hordes  of  Genghis 
Khan  five  hundred  years  ago.     They  made  considerable  resistance  to  the 


A  BOURIAT  VILLAGE 


345 


THE    MOUNTAINS    NEAP.    CHETAH. 


Russians  when  the  latter  came  to  occupy  the  country,  but  ever  since  their 
subjugation  they  have  been  entirely  peaceful. 

"  Some  of  the  Bouriats  live  in  houses  like  those  of  the  Russians,  but 
the  most  of  them  cling  to  the  yourt  or  kibitka,  which  is  the  peculiar  habi- 
tation of  the  nomad  tribes  of  Central  Asia.  Even  when  settled  in  villages 
they  prefer  the  yourt  to  the  house,  though  the  latter  is  far  more  comfort- 
able than  the  former. 

"  We  changed  horses  in  a  Bouriat  village,  where  a  single  Russian  lived 
and  tilled  the  office  of  station-master,  justice  of  the  peace,  governor,  secre- 
tary, and  garrison.  I  took  the  opportunity  of  visiting  a  yourt,  which 
proved  to  be  a  circular  tent  about  eighteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  rounded 
at  the  top  like  a  dome.  There  was  a  frame  of  light  trellis-work  covered 
with  thick  felt  made  from  horse-hair ;  at  the  highest  point  of  the  dome 
the  yourt  has  an  open  space  which  allows  the  smoke  to  pass  out,  at  least  in 
theory.  A  small  fire  is  kept  burning  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  during  the 
day,  and  covered  up  at  night ;  the  door  is  made  of  a  piece  of  felt  of  double 
or  treble  thickness,  and  hanging  like  a  curtain  over  the  entrance. 

"I  had  not  been  two  minutes  inside  the  yourt  before  my  eyes  began  to 
smart  severely,  and  I  wanted  to  get  into  the  open  air.    The  pain  was  caused 


346 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


by  the  smoke,  which  was  everywhere  through  the  interior  of  the  tent,  but 
did  not  seem  to  inconvenience  the  Bouriats  in  the  least.  I  noticed,  how- 
ever, that  nearly  all  their  eyes  were  red,  and  apparently  inflamed,  and 
doubtless  this  condition  was  caused  by  the  smoke. 

"  A  family  of  several  persons  finds  plenty  of  space  in  one  of  these 
tents,  as  they  can  be  very  closely  packed.  The  furniture  is  principally 
mats  and  skins,  which  are  seats  by  day  and  beds  by  night.  They  have 
pots  and  kettles  for  cooking,  a  few  jars  and  bottles  for  holding  liquids, 
sacks  for  grain,  half  a  dozen  pieces  of  crockery,  and  little  else.     A  wooden 


9i-&-1*> 


A    BOIRIAT    VILLAGE. 


box  contains  the  valuable  clothing  of  the  family,  and  this  box,  with  two  or 
three  bags  and  bundles,  forms  the  entire  wardrobe  accommodation. 

"My  attention  was  drawn  to  a  small  altar  on  which  were  tiny  cups 
containing  oil,  grain,  and  other  offerings  to  the  Deities.  The  Bouriats  are 
Buddhists,  and  have  their  lamas  to  give  them  the  needed  spiritual  advice. 
The  lamas  are  numerous,  and  frequently  engage  in  the  same  callings  as 
their  followers.  By  the  rules  of  their  religion  they  are  not  permitted  to 
kill  anything,  however  small  or  insignificant.     Whenever  a  lama  has  a 


BOUEIAT  DRIVERS. 


347 


sheep  to  slaughter  lie  gets  everything  ready,  and  then  passes  the  knife  to 
his  secular  neighbor. 

"  The  Bouriats  are  not  inclined  to  agriculture,  but  devote  most  of  their 
energy  to  sheep-raising.  They  have  large  flocks,  and  sell  considerable  wool 
to  the  Russians.  Their  dress  is  a  mixture  of  Russian  and  Chinese,  the 
conveniences  of  each  being  adopted,  and  the  inconveniences  rejected. 
They  decorate  their  waist-belts  with  steel  or  brass,  shave  the  head,  and 
wear  the  hair  in  a  queue,  but  are  not  careful  to  keep  it  closely  trimmed. 
With  their  trousers  of  Chinese 
cut,  and  sheepskin  coats  of  Rus- 
sian model,  they  presented  an  odd 
appearance.  The  women  are  not 
generally  good-looking,  but  there 
is  now  and  then  a  girl  whose  face 
is  really  beautiful. 

"  We  were  called  from  the 
yourt  with  the  announcement 
' Loshadi  gotovey'  ('"Horses  are 
ready "),  and  were  soon  dashing 
away  from  the  village.  Our  driv- 
er was  a  Bouriat  ;  he  handled  the 
reins  with  skill  and  the  whip  with 
vigor,  and  in  every  way  was  the 
equal  of  his  Russian  competitor. 
For  two  or  three  hundred  miles 
most  of  our  drivers  were  Bouriats, 
and  certainly  they  deserve  praise 
for  their  equestrian  abilities.  At 
many  of  our  stopping -places  the 
station-masters  were  the  only  Rus- 
sians, all  the  employes  being  Bou- 
riats." 

Frank  asked  whether  the  Bou- 
riats had  adopted  any  of  the  Russian  manners  and  customs,  or  if  they 
still  adhered  to  their  Mongol  ways. 

"  They  stick  to  their  enstoms  very  tenaciously,"  was  the  reply,  "  and 
as  for  their  religion,  the  Russian  priests  have  made  no  progress  in  con- 
verting them  to  the  faith  of  the  Empire.  Two  English  missionaries  lived 
for  many  years  at  Selenginsk,  which  is  in  the  centre  of  the  Bouriat  coun- 
try, and  though  they  labored  earnestly  they  never  gained  a  single  convert. 


A    WANDERING    PRIEST. 


348  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

"Buddhism  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin  among  these  people. 
Two  hundred  years  ago  they  were  Shamans,  or  worshippers  of  good  and 
evil  spirits,  principally  the  latter,  and  in  this  respect  differed  little  from 
the  wild  tribes  of  the  Amoor  and  of  Northern  Siberia.  About  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Bouriats  sent  a  mission  to  Lassa,  the  re- 
ligious capital  of  Thibet,  and  a  stronghold  of  Buddhism.  The  members  of 
this  mission  were  appointed  lamas,  and  brought  back  the  paraphernalia 
and  ritual  of  the  new  faith  ;  they  announced  it  to  the  people,  and  in  an  as- 
tonishingly short  time  the  whole  tribe  was  converted,  and  has  remained 
firm  ever  since. 

"We  spent  a  day  at  Verckne  Udinsk,  which  has  a  church  nearly  two 
hundred  years  old,  and  built  with  immensely  thick  walls  to  resist  the 
earthquakes  which  are  not  uncommon  there.  In  fact  there  was  an  earth- 
quake shock  while  we  were  on  the  road,  but  the  motion  of  the  carriage 
prevented  our  feeling  it.  We  only  knew  what  had  happened  when  we 
reached  the  station  and  found  the  master  and  his  employes  in  a  state  of 
alarm. 

"  The  Gostinna  Dvor  contained  a  curious  mixture  of  Russians  and 
Bouriats  in  about  equal  numbers,  but  there  was  nothing  remarkable  in  the 
goods  offered  for  sale.  An  interesting  building  was  the  jail,  which  seemed 
unnecessarily  large  for  the  population  of  the  place.  A  gentleman  who 
knew  my  companion  told  us  that  the  jail  was  rapidly  filling  up  for  win- 
ter. 'We  have,'  said  he, '  a  great  number  of  what  you  call  tramps  in 
America  ;  in  summer  they  wander  through  the  country,  and  live  by  beg- 
ging and  stealing,  but  in  winter  they  come  to  the  jails  to  be  lodged  and 
fed  until  warm  weather  comes  again.  After  spending  the  cold  season 
here  they  leave  in  the  spring — as  the  trees  do.' 

"  He  further  told  us  there  was  then  in  the  jail  and  awaiting  trial  a 
man  who  confessed  to  the  murder  of  no  less  than  seventeen  people.  He 
had  been  a  robber,  and  when  in  danger  of  discovery  had  not  hesitated  to 
kill  those  whom  he  plundered.  On  one  occasion  he  had  killed  four  per- 
sons in  a  single  family,  leaving  only  a  child  too  young  to  testify  against 
him." 

Fred  wished  to  know  if  robberies  were  common  in  Siberia. 

"Less  so  than  you  might  suppose,"  was  the  reply,  "when  there  is  such 
a  proportion  of  criminals  among  the  population.  They  are  mostly  com- 
mitted in  summer,  as  that  is  the  season  when  the  tramps  are  in  motion. 
The  principal  victims  are  merchants,  who  often  carry  money  in  large 
amounts;  officers  are  rarely  attacked,  as  they  usually  have  only  the  money 
needed  for  their  travelling  expenses,  and  are  more  likely  than  the  mer- 


A   PERILOUS  JOURNEY. 


WJ 


chants  to  be  provided  with  fire-arms  and  skilled  in  their  use.  My  com- 
panion and  myself  each  had  a  revolver,  and  kept  it  where  it  could  be  con- 
veniently seized  in  case  of  trouble.  We  never  had  any  occasion  to  use 
our  weapons,  and  I  will  say  here  that  not  once  in  all  my  journey  through 
Siberia  was  I  molested  by  highwaymen. 

"  When  we  left  Verckne  Udinsk  we  crossed  the  Selenga,  a  river  which 
rises  in  Chinese  Tartary,  and  after  a  long  and  tortuous  course  falls  into 
Lake  Baikal,  whence  its  waters  reach  the  Arctic  Ocean.     There  was  no 


CROSSING    THE    SELENGA. 


bridge,  and  we  traversed  the  stream  on  a  ferry.  The  river  was  full  of 
floating  ice,  and  the  huge  cakes  ground  very  unpleasantly  against  the  sides 
of  the  craft  which  bore  ourselves  and  our  tarantasse.  The  river  was  on 
the  point  of  freezing  ;  there  was  just  a  possibility  that  it  would  close 
while  we  were  crossing,  and  keep  us  imprisoned  until  such  time  as  the  ice 
was  thick  enough  to  bear  us  safely.  As  this  would  involve  a  detention  of 
several  hours  where  the  accommodations  were  wretched,  the  outlook  was 
not  at  all  pleasant. 

"  All's  well  that  ends  well ;  we  landed  on  a  sand-bank  on  the  other 
side,  and  after  a  little  delay  the  boatmen  succeeded  in  getting  our  carriage 
on  shore  without  accident.    About  six  miles  from  the  river  the  road  divid- 


350  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

ed,  one  branch  going  to  Irkutsk  and  the  other  to  Kiachta,  our  destina- 
tion. Away  we  sped  up  the  valley  of  the  Selenga.  The  road  was  not  the 
best  in  the  world,  and  we  were  shaken  a  good  deal  as  the  drivers  urged 
their  teams  furiously. 

"  On  this  road  we  met  long  trains  of  carts  laden  with  tea.  Each  cart 
has  a  load  of  from  six  to  ten  chests,  according  to  the  condition  of  the 
roads,  and  is  drawn  by  a  single  horse.  There  is  a  driver  to  every  four  or 
five  carts,  and  he  has  a  bed  on  the  top  of  one  of  his  loads.  The  drivers 
were  nearly  always  asleep,  and  their  horses  showed  a  good  deal  of  intelli- 
gence in  turning  out  whenever  they  heard  the  sound  of  our  bells.  If  they 
did  not  turn  out  they  received  a  reminder  from  the  whip  of  our  driver, 
who  always  had  an  extra  stroke  for  the  slumbering  teamster." 

Frank  asked  where  these  carts  were  going. 

"They  were  going  to  Irkutsk,"  said  Mr.  liegeman,  " and  from  that 
city  the  most  of  the  tea  they  carried  was  destined  for  European  Russia." 

"  Oh,  now  I  remember,"  said  Frank  ;  "  Doctor  Bronson  told  us  about 
the  tea  importation  from  China,  and  how  it  all  came  overland  down  to 
I860,  with  the  exception  of  one  cargo  annually." 

"  Many  persons  still  prefer  the  tea  brought  by  land,  as  the  herb  is 
thought  to  be  injured  by  passing  over  salt-water,  although  packed  in  air- 
tight chests.  At  the  time  I  speak  of,  not  less  than  a  million  chests  of  tea 
were  taken  annually  from  Kiachta  to  European  Russia,  a  distance  of  four 
thonsand  miles.  To  Kiachta  it  came  on  the  backs  of  camels  from  the  tea 
districts  of  China,  so  that  camels  and  horses  in  great  number  were  em- 
ployed in  the  transport  of  tea. 

"Each  chest  is  covered  with  rawhide,  which  protects  it  from  rain  and 
snow,  and  from  the  rough  handling  and  shaking  it  receives.  Across  Siberia 
it  is  carried  in  carts  in  summer,  and  on  sledges  in  winter.  The  horse- 
caravans  travel  sixteen  hours  out  of  every  twenty-four,  and  the  teams 
rarely  go  faster  than  a  walk.  The  teams  are  the  property  of  peasants, 
who  make  contracts  for  the  work  at  a  certain  price  per  chest. 

"  For  the  latter  part  of  the  way  the  road  was  hilly  and  sandy,  and  our 
progress  was  slow.  About  nine  in  the  evening  we  reached  Kiachta;  and 
as  there  is  no  hotel  there,  we  went  to  the  police-master  to  obtain  lodg- 
ings." 

"Not  at  the  police-station,  I  hope,"  said  Fred. 

"Not  at  all,"  Mr.  liegeman  responded,  with  a  slight  laugh.  "In  many 
towns  of  Siberia  there  is  not  sufficient  travel  to  make  hotel-keeping  profit- 
able, and  consequently  there  are  no  hotels.  By  custom  and  law  the  inhabi- 
tants are  required  to  receive  travellers  who  may  require  accommodation, 


LODGED  BY   THE   POLICE. 


351 


and  all  such  lodging-places  are  registered  with  the  police.  For  this  reason 
we  went  to  the  police-master  and  received  the  name  of  the  citizen  who 
was  to  be  honored  with  our  company. 

"It  was  about  ten  o'clock  when  we  reached  the  house,  accompanied  by 
two  soldiers  who  brought  the  mandate  of  the  office  and  showed  us  the 
way.  Everybody  was  in  bed,  and  it  required  a  good  deal  of  knocking 
to  rouse  the  servants  and  afterwards  the  master,  who  came  to  the  door 
in  his  night-shirt.     He  stood  shivering  while  our  explanations  were  made, 


FINDING    LODGINGS     AT    KIACHTA. 


and  did  not  seem  to  realize  his  ludicrous  appearance  until  we  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  mansion  and  our  baggage  was  landed." 

Frank  inquired  if  it  was  often  necessary  in  Siberian  towns  to  obtain 
lodgings  in  this  way,  and  whether  they  were  paid  for  ? 

"  It  was  only  the  lateness  of  the  hour  and  the  fact  that  neither  of  us 
had  ever  been  in  Kiachta  that  compelled  us  to  apply  to  the  police-master. 
Travellers  are  unfrequent  in  Siberia,  and  the  few  strangers  that  go  through 
the  country  are  cordially  welcomed.  Officers  are  entertained  by  their 
fellow  -  officers,  and  merchants  by  their  fellow -merchants.     Lodgings  oh- 


352 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


tained  as  we  obtained  ours  are  paid  for  exactly  as  they  would  be  at  a 
hotel.  We  were  invited  to  move  the  next  day,  but  were  so  well  lodged 
that  we  chose  to  stay  where  we  were. 

"The  morning  after  our  arrival  we  delivered  our  letters  of  introduc- 
tion and  made  numerous  calls,  the  latter  including  a  visit  to  the  Sargoot- 
chay,  or  Chinese  Governor  of  Mai-mai-chin.  Which  of  you  has  read 
enough  about  the  relations  between  China  and  Russia  to  tell  me  about 
these  two  places — Kiachta  and  Mai-mai-chin  ?" 

Frank  was  the  first  to  speak,  which  he  did  as  follows  : 
"Kiachta  and  Mai-mai-chin  were  built  in  1727  for  the  purposes  of 
commerce — Mai-mai-chin  meaning  in  Chinese  '  place  of  trade.'  The  towns 
are  about  a  hundred  yards  apart,  one  thoroughly  Russian  and  the  other  as 
thoroughly  Chinese.  From  1727  to  1860  nearly  all  the  trade  between  the 
two  empires  was  conducted  at  this  point,  and  the  merchants  who  managed 
the  business  made  great  fortunes.  Women  were  forbidden  to  live  in  Mai- 
mai-chin,  and  down  to  the  present  day  the  Chinese  merchants  keep  their 
families  at  Urga,  two  or  three  hundred  miles  to  the  south.     The  same 


CHINESE   CASH    FROM    MAI-MAI-CHIN. 


restriction  was  at  first  made  upon  the  Russian  merchants  at  Kiachta,  but 
after  a  time  the  rule  was  relaxed  and  has  never  since  been  enforced.  Until 
quite  recently,  strangers  were  forbidden  to  stay  over-night  in  Kiachta,  but 
were  lodged  at  Troitskosavsk,  about  two  miles  away." 

"  I  should  say  right  here,"  remarked  Mr.  liegeman,  "  that  my  friend 
and  myself  were  really  lodged  in  Troitskosavsk  and  not  in  Kiachta.  The 
latter  place  had  about  a  thousand  inhabitants,  and  the  former  four  or  five 
thousand.  At  a  distance  only  Kiachta  is  mentioned,  just  as  a  man  may 
say  he  lives  in  London  or  New  York  when  his  home  is  really  in  a  suburb 
of  one  of  those  cities." 

"I  have  read  somewhere,"  said    Fred,  "that  the  Russian  and  Chinese 


GETTING  AROUND  THE   LAW. 


353 


Governments  stipulated  in  their  treaty  that  the  products  and  manufactures 
of  each  country  should  be  exchanged  for  those  of  the  other,  and  no  money 
was  to  be  used  in  their  commercial  transactions." 

"  That  was  the  stipulation,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "  but  the  merchants 
soon  found  a  way  to  evade  it." 

"  How  was  that  ?" 

"  The  balance  of  trade  was  greatly  in  favor  of  China,  as  the  Russians 
wanted  great  quantities  of  tea,  while  they  did  not  produce  or  manufacture 


ARTICLES   OF  RUSSIAN   MANUFACTURE. 


many  things  that  the  Chinese  could  use.  Furs  were  the  principal  articles 
of  Russian  production  that  the  Chinese  would  take,  but  their  demand  for 
them  was  not  enough  to  meet  the  Russian  demand  for  tea.  The  treaty 
forbade  the  use  of  gold  or  silver  coin  under  severe  penalties,  but  some- 
body discovered  that  it  did  not  prohibit  articles  of  Russian  manufacture 
being  made  of  those  metals.  So  they  used  to  melt  gold  and  silver  coin, 
and  cast  them  into  Chinese  idols  which  were  sold  by  weight.  The  Gov- 
ernment prohibited  the  melting  of  its  coin,  and  then  the  merchants  bought 
their  crude  gold  and  silver  directly  from  the  miners.  With  this  source 
of  supply  always  at  hand  they  were  able  to  supply  'articles  of  Russian 
manufacture'  without  difficulty.  As  late  as  1860  every  visitor  to  Kiachta 
was  searched,  to  make  sure  that  he  had  no  gold  coin  in  his  possession." 

23 


354 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IX  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

GENERAL  ASPECTS  OF  MAI-MAI-CHIN.— DINNER  WITH  A  CHINESE  GOVERNOR.— 
A  THEATRICAL  PERFORMANCE.— LAKE  BAIKAL:  ITS  REMARKABLE  FEATURES. 
—A  WONDERFUL  RIDE— IRKUTSK— ITS  POPULATION,  SIZE,  AND  PECULIARITIES. 
—SOCIAL  GAYETIES— PREPARATIONS  FOR  A  LONG  SLEIGH-RIDE.— LIST  OF  GAR- 
MENTS.—VARIETIES  OF  SLEIGHS.— FAREWELL  TO  IRKUTSK.— SLEIGHING  INCI- 
DENTS.—FOOD  ON  THE  ROAD.— SIBERIAN  MAILS.— ADVANTAGES  OF  WINTER 
TRAA'ELLING.— SLEIGHING  ON  BARE  GROUND.— A  SNOWLESS  REGION.— KRAS- 
NOYARSK. 

"  AT'C'lI  have  been  in  China,  I  believe,"  said  Mr.  Hegeman,  during  the 
J-     pause  that  followed  the  story  of  how  the  Russian  and  Chinese  mer- 
chants circumvented  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty. 

"  Oh  yes,"  Frank  responded.     "  We  were  at  Peking,  which  is,  I  think, 
cnly  eight  hundred  miles  from  Kiachta.     We  went  from  Peking  to  the 


SCENE    IN    A    CHINESE    TEMFLE. 


Great  Wall  of  China,  so  that  we  were  less  than  seven  hundred  miles  from 
the  point  where  yon  called  on  the  Sargootchay.  You  can  learn  about  our 
journey  in  '  The  Boy  Travellers  in  Japan  and  China."  *' 


THE   CLEANEST  TOWN  IN   CHINA. 


355 


"  I  shall  read  the  book  with  great  pleasure,"  was  the  reply,  "  now  that 
I  have  met  the  youths  whose  travels  are  described  in  it.  As  you  have 
seen  the  Chinese  at  home,  and  know  their  manners  and  customs,  I  won't 
take  your  time  by  telling  you  what  I  saw  in  Mai-mai-chin,  which  is  just 
like  any  other  Chinese  city  in  nearly  every  respect. 

"  I  may  add  that  it  is  said  to  be  the  cleanest  town  in  all  China.  It  is 
only  half  a  mile  square,  carefully  laid  out,  and  its  streets  are  swept  daily. 


THEATRE    AT    MAI-MAI-CHIN. 


Only  the  merchants  and  their  employes,  with  a  small  garrison  of  soldiers, 
are  allowed  to  live  there,  and  consequently  there  is  no  poor  population 
such  as  you  always  find  in  the  other  cities  of  the  Enipire." 

"That  must  be  a  great  relief,"  Fred  remarked.  "Wherever  we  went 
in  China  we  saw  so  much  degradation  and  suffering  that  it  destroyed  a 
great  deal  of  the  pleasure  of  the  journey." 

"  I  didn't  see  a  beggar  in  Mai-mai-chin,"  continued   Mr.  Hegeman, 


356 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  nor  anybody  who  looked  like  one.  There  were  plenty  of  laborers  em- 
ployed in  handling  the  tea  and  other  merchandise,  but  they  all  appeared  to 
be  well  cared  for.  Outside  the  town  there  was  quite  a  camp  of  Mongo- 
lians with  their  camel-trains,  which  are  employed  in  the  transportation  of 
goods  across  the  great  desert  of  Gobi. 

"  The  Sargootchay  invited  me  to  dinner,  and  I  went  there  with  the 
Governor  of  Kiachta  and  some  of  his  officers.  The  Sargootchay  was 
polite,  and  we  tried  to  talk,  but  had  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  in  doing  so 
on  account  of  the  numerous  translations. 

"  What  I  thought  in  mjr  own  language  I  said  in  French  to  one  of  my 
Russian  friends.  He  spoke  in  Russian  to  his  Russian-Mongol  interpreter, 
who  spoke  in  Mongol  to  the  Mongol-Chinese  interpreter  of  the  Sargoo- 
tchay. Remarks  and  responses  thus  had  to  pass  through  four  tongues  to 
reach  their  destination. 

''The  dinner  was  probably  like  what  you  had  at  Peking  or  Canton,  and 

so  1  will  not  take  the  time  to  de- 
scribe it.  After  dinner  we  went  to 
the  theatre,  where  we  sat  under  a 
canopy  and  witnessed  a  performance 
which  included,  among  other  tinners, 
a  procession  of  fictitious  wild  beasts. 
That  they  were  very  fictitious  was 
shown  by  the  accident  of  the  tiger's 
mask  falling  off  and  revealing  the 
head  of  an  astonished  man. 

"  The  thermometer  was  below 
the  freezing-point,  and  as  the  the- 
atre was  in  the  open  air,  I  was  very 
tue  tiger.  glad  that  the  performance  was  short. 

"  From  Kiachta  I  returned  to 
Verckne  TJdinsk,  and  then  proceeded  to  Irkutsk  by  way  of  Lake  Baikal. 
This  lake  is  said  to  be  the  largest  body  of  fresh  water  in  Asia.  It  is  four 
hundred  miles  long  by  about  fifty  broad,  and  is  fourteen  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  quantity  of  water  flowing  into  it  is  said 
to  be  ten  times  as  much  as  passes  from  it  by  its  outlet,  the  Angara  River. 
What  becomes  of  the  other  nine-tenths  is  a  mystery  that  has  puzzled  many 
scientific  men  ;  none  of  them  have  been  able  to  establish  a  theory  which 
the  others  have  not  completely  upset. 

"  I  crossed  the  lake  in  a  steamboat,  and  during  the  voyage  listened  ea- 
gerly to  the  description  of  the  winter  passage  which  is  made  on  the  ice. 


A  WONDERFUL   RIDE.  357 

I  will  give  it  as  nearly  as  I  can  remember  in  the  words  of  my  informant, 
a  gentleman  who  filled  the  position  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion in  Eastern  Siberia : 

" '  The  lake  does  not  freeze  over  until  quite  late  in  the  autumn, 
and  when  it  does  the  whole  surface  is  congealed  in  a  single  night.  In 
a  few  days  the  ice  is  from  tliree  to  six  feet  thick,  and  perfectly  trans- 


A    NATURAL    ARCH    ON    LAKE    BAIKAL. 


parent.  The  first  time  I  crossed  it  was  from  the  western  to  the  eastern 
shore.  The  former  is  mountainous,  while  the  latter  is  low  and  flat.  As 
we  began  our  ride  the  land  on  the  other  side  was  quite  invisible,  and 
it  seemed  to  me  very  much  like  setting  out  in  a  sleigh  for  a  voyage 
from  Queenstown  to  New  York.  When  I  leaned  over  and  looked  down- 
ward, it  was  like  gazing  into  the  depths  of  the  ocean.  It  was  not  until 
I  alighted  and  stood  on  the  firm  ice  that  I  could  dispel  the  illusion  that 
we  were  gliding  over  the  unfrozen  surface  of  the  lake,  as  the  natives 
believe  its  guardian  spirit  walks  upon  the  waters  without  sinking  beneath 
them. 


358 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMITRE. 


" '  At  night  every  star  was  reflected  as  in  a  mirror,  and  I  saw  the  heav- 
ens above  me,  beneath  me,  and  all  around.  As  the  rising  moon  lighted  up 
the  faint  horizon  of  ice  and  sky,  I  could  half  believe  I  had  left  the  world 


CAVF.RS5    OX    LAKE    BAIKAL. 


behind  me,  and  was  moving  away  through  the  myriads  of  stars  tow  ards 
the  centre  of  another  solar  system  distinct  from  our  own." 

"The  natives  have  many  superstitions  concerning  the  Baikal,"  Mr. 
liegeman  continued.  "  In  their  language  it  is  the  '  Holy  Sea,'  and  they 
consider  it  sacrilege  to  call  it  a  lake.  It  is  very  deep,  soundings  of  two 
thousand  feet  having  been  made  without  finding  bottom.  It  is  mure  like 
a  sea  than  a  lake  in  some  of  its  peculiarities ;  gulls  and  other  ocean  birds 
fly  over  it,  and  it  is  the  only  body  of  fresh  water  on  the  globe  where  the 
seal  abounds.  There  are  banks  of  coral  in  some  parts  of  it,  in  spite  of  the 
high  northern  latitude  and  the  constant  coldness  of  the  water.     The  na- 


SHORES  OF  LAKE  BAIKAL. 


359 


tives  say  that  nobody  is  ever  lost  in  the  lake ;  any  one  drowned  in  its  wa- 
ters is  thrown  up  on  the  shores." 

"  It  must  be  a  long  drive  from  one  side  of  the  lake  to  the  other,"  one 
of  the  youths  remarked. 

"  It  is,  indeed,"  was  the  reply.  "  Formerly  they  had  a  station  on  the 
ice  in  the  middle  of  the  lake,  which  was  removed  at  the  approach  of 
spring.  One  season  the  ice  broke  up  unexpectedly,  and  the  entire  station, 
with  all  its  men  and  horses,  was  swallowed  up.  Since  that  time  no  station 
has  been  kept  there  in  winter,  and  the  entire  journey  across,  about  fifty-five 
miles,  is  made  without  a  change.  The  horses  are  carefully  selected,  and 
as  the  road  is  magnificent  they  go  at  great  speed,  stopping  only  two  or 
three  times  for  a  rest  of  a  few  minutes. 

"  The  western  shore  is  mountainous,  and  in  places  very  picturesque. 
There  are  steep  cliffs  that  come  down  to  the  water,  and  in  some  of  these 


PART  OF   IRKUTSK. 


cliffs  you  find  caverns  and  arches  which  recall  the  pictured  shores  of  Lake 
Superior.  Earthquakes  are  not  unfrequent,  and  man}'  persons  believe  that 
the  lake  occupies  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano  whose  internal  fires  are 
determined  to  keep  themselves  in  remembrance.  A  village  on  the  shore 
of  the  lake  was  destroyed  by  one  of  the  shocks.     Half  of  it  was  carried 


300 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


below  the  level  of  the  water,  and  the 
other  half  thrown  up  to  a  considera- 
ble height  above  its  former  position. 

"  So    much   for    this    remarkable 
lake.     From  the  western  shore  to  Ir- 
kutsk  (about   forty  miles)   the    road 
follows  near  the  bank  of  the  Angara, 
which  is  very  swift.     The  river  does 
not  freeze  until  after  the   lake   has 
been  covered  with  ice,  and  for  two 
or  three  miles  below  the  point  where 
it   emerges   from   the   lake   it   never 
freezes  even  in  the  severest  winters. 
i       There  is  a  great  rock  in  the  stream 
\       at  this  point  which  is  regarded  with 
s       superstition  by  the  aboriginal  inhab- 
it      itants.     They  perform  religious  cere- 
i       monies  when  passing  it,  and  formerly 
3       it  was  a  place  of  sacrifice.    Hundreds, 
3       if  not  thousands,  of  men,  women,  and 
?       children  have  been  tossed  from  this 
i       rock  to  be  drowned  in  the  swift  cnr- 
>       rent  flowing  below  it. 
s  "  It  had  been  my  original  plan  to 

-  reach  Irkutsk  on  wheels,  and  remain 
there  till  the  winter  roads  were  form- 
ed, so  that  I  could  continue  from  that 
city  in  a  sleigh.  A  snow-storm  began 
an  hour  before  I  reached  the  city,  and 
indicated  that  I  had  made  a  very  good 
calculation  ;  it  cleared  up  soon  after 
we  passed  the  gate-way,  and  for  sev- 
eral days  thereafter  the  weather  was 
delightful.  My  reception  was  most 
cordial ;  Americans  were  rare  visitors 
in  the  capital  of  Eastern  Siberia,  and 
I  was  the  first  that  many  of  the  peo- 
ple had  ever  seen." 
One  of  the  youths  remarked  that  he  believed  Irkutsk  was  a  city  of 
considerable  size  and  importance. 


LIFE   AT   IRKUTSK.  361 

"  It  is  the  largest  city  in  Siberia,"  said  Mr.  liegeman,  "  and  lias  a  pop- 
ulation of  about  thirty-five  thousand.  The  Governor-general  of  Eastern 
Siberia  lives  there.  lie  has  many  officers  attached  to  his  staff.  There  are 
many  wealthy  citizens.  The  houses  are  large,  well  built,  and  furnished, 
and  the  style  of  living  is  liberal. 

"  The  winter  opens  with  a  long  list  of  balls,  parties,  dinners,  concerts, 
and  other  festivities,  which  are  kept  up  until  the  coming  of  the  Lenten 
season.  Every  family  keeps  open  house  through  the  winter,  and  it  is 
customary  to  drop  in  whenever  one  chooses,  and  take  tea  at  eight  o'clock. 
There  is  no  formality  about  the  matter.  One  of  the  ladies  of  the  house 
presides  at  the  samovar,  and  the  others  of  the  party  are  scattered  around 
the  parlors  wherever  it  is  most  convenient  or  agreeable  to  be.  My  recol- 
lections of  Irkutsk  are  of  the  most  pleasant  sort,  and  I  greatly  regret  the 
place  is  so  far  away  that  one  cannot  easily  revisit  it. 

"  Since  I  was  there  Irkutsk  has  suffered  by  a  fire  that  destroyed  more 
than  half  the  buildings,  aud  caused  a  vast  amount  of  distress.  For  a  time 
it  was  thought  the  city  would  not  be  rebuilt,  but  I  hear  that  it  is  being- 
restored  very  rapidly,  and  in  a  few  years  will  be  more  attractive  than  it 
was  before  the  conflagration."- 

"When  the  winter  roads  were  reported  in  a  condition  for  travelling  I 
began  my  preparations  for  leaving  Irkutsk  on  a  sleigh-ride  of  thirty-six 
hundred  miles.  The  thermometer  went  to  twenty  degrees  below  zero 
soon  after  the  first  fall  of  snow,  and  my  Russian  friends  told  me  to  pre- 
pare for  forty  below.  Under  their  advice  I  employed  a  tailor  who  knew 
his  business,  and  when  his  work  was  completed  my  room  resembled  a 
clothing  store  of  modest  proportions.  Here  is  what  I  bought :  A  sheep- 
skin coat  with  the  wool  inside  ;  the  garment  fell  below  my  knees,  was 
without  a  collar,  and  buttoned  tight  around  the  neck.  It  was  intended 
for  wearing  outside  my  ordinary  suit  of  clothing.  Outside  of  this  was 
what  the  Russians  call  a  dehar;  it  was  made  of  deerskin,  with  the  hair 
outward,  and  as  I  walked  it  swept  the  floor  like  a  lady's  ball-dress.  The 
sleeves  were  six  inches  longer  than  my  arms,  and  very  inconvenient  when 


*  The  fire  occurred  on  July  6th  and  7th,  1879.  About  thirty -six  hundred  buildings 
were  destroyed,  of  which  one  hundred  and  more  were  of  stone  or  brick,  and  the  rest  of 
wood.  Six  Russian  churches  were  burned,  and  also  two  synagogues,  one  Catholic  aud 
one  Lutheran  church;  five  bazaars,  the  meat-market,  museum,  club-house,  custom-house, 
and  other  public  edifices  were  consumed.  The  loss  was  about  fifteen  millions  of  dollars, 
aud  man}T  persons  formerly  in  good  circumstances  were  rendered  penniless.  The  wealthy 
inhabitants  who  escaped  loss  or  ruin  gave  liberally  to  relieve  the  general  distress,  and  the 
Government  made  substantial  provision  for  the  unemployed. 


362 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


I  wished  to  pick  up  any  small  article ;  the  collar  was  a  foot  wide,  and 
when  turned  up  and  brought  around  in  front  completely  concealed  my 
head.     Then  I  had  a  fur  cap,  circular  in  shape  and  with  lappets  for  cover- 


DRESSED    FUR    THE    ROAD. 


ing  the  ears.     A  lady  made,  from  a  piece  of  sable-skin,  a  mitten  for  my 
nose. 

"For  my  foot-gear  I  discarded  my  leather  boots.  Outside  of  my  or- 
dinary socks  I  had  a  pair  of  squirrel-skin  socks  with  the  fur  inside,  sheep- 
skin stockings  with  the  wool  inside  and  reaching  to  the  knee,  and  outside 
of  these  were  deer-skin  boots,  with  the  hair  outside,  and  reaching  up  near- 
ly to  the  junction  of  my  lower  limbs.  Added  to  these  garments  for  ex- 
cluding cold  was  a  robe  of  sheepskins  with  the  wool  on,  and  backed  with 


UPSET  INTO  THE   SNOW. 


363 


heavy  cloth.  It  was  seven  feet  square,  and  something  like  a  dozen  skins 
were  required  for  making  it.  At  one  end  it  was  shaped  into  a  sort  of  bag 
for  receiving  the  feet." 

Fred  suggested  that  such  a  costume  must  be  very  inconvenient  for 
walking,  and  it  must  be  no  easy  matter  to  enter  and  leave  a  sleigh  when 
thus  wrapped  for  a  cold  night. 

"  You  are  quite  right,"  said  Mr.  liegeman  ;  "  it  is  the  work  of  a  minute 
or  more  to  turn  over  at  night  and  change  one's  position,  excepting,  of 
course,  when  the  sleigh  turns  over  first." 

"  Did  that  happen  often  ?" 

"  Fortunately  not,"  was  the  reply, "  but  the  few.  experiences  of  this 
kind  that  I  had  were  quite  sufficient.     One  night  we  were  upset  while  go- 


ing at  full  speed  down  a  hill.  I  was  asleep  at  the  time,  and  without  the 
least  warning  found  myself  in  a  mass  of  baggage,  hay,  furs,  and  snow.  My 
first  thought  was  that  an  earthquake  had  hit  us,  and  it  was  several  seconds 
before  I  realized  what  had  happened.  One  of  the  horses  broke  loose  and 
ran  away ;  the  driver  mounted  the  other  and  went  after  the  fugitive,  and 
for  half  an  hour  my  companion  and  myself  were  left  alone  with  the  slei°'h 
and  its  contents.  We  kept  ourselves  busy  trying  to  get  things  to  rights, 
and  as  we  had  only  the  light  of  the  stars  to  work  by,  we  did  not  get  along 
rapidly. 

"We  found  one  of  the  shafts  and  also  a  fender  broken  ;  otherwise  the 
vehicle  had  suffered  no  material  damage.  But  I'm  getting  ahead  of  the 
story. 


364 


THE   BOY   TEAVELLEES   IX   THE   EUSSIAN  EMPIEE. 


"  I  arranged  to  leave  Irkutsk  with  some  Russian  friends  who  were  go- 
ing to  Krasnoyarsk,  the  next  provincial  capital.  After  getting  my  funs, 
the  next  thing  was  to  buy  a  sleigh,  and  again  I  took  advice. 

"  There  is  a  sleigh  called  a  vas/tok,  which  is  much  like  a  small  omni- 
bus. It  has  doors  at  the  side  and  is  very  capacious,  but  it  has  the  disad- 
vantage that  you  are  completely  enclosed  in  it,  and  can  see  nothing  of  the 
country  }'ou  are  passing  through.  A  better  vehicle  is  the  kibitka,  a  sort 
of  tarantasse  on  runners,  and  suggestive  of  the  American  chaise  in  the  ar- 


SIY   KIBITKA. 


rangement  of  its  front.  There  is  a  hood  which  can  be  lowered  and  fast- 
ened to  an  apron  rising  from  the  wooden  box,  in  which  your  feet  are 
pushed  when  you  enter  the  vehicle.  By  day  you  can  see  the  country  and 
enjoy  the  fresh  air,  and  at  night  or  in  storms  you  close  the  hood  and  are 
very  well  protected  from  the  weather  Ladies  and  invalids  prefer  the 
vashok,  while  healthy  men  have  a  decided  liking  for  the  kibitka. 

"  At  the  rear  of  the  kibitka  there  is  usually  a  frame  of  poles,  covered 
with  a  net  of  half -inch  rope.  It  is  a  convenient  receptacle  for  extra 
baggage,  and  also  serves  to  break  the  force  of  horses  running  against  the 
sleigh  from  behind. 

"  The  driver  of  the  vashok  sits  on  a  seat  much  like  that  of  an  ordinary 
carriage,  while  on  the  kibitka  he  is  seated  on  the  boxed  front,  with  his  feet 
hanging  over  the  side.  The  position  is  one  that  requires  constant  vigi- 
lance  to  prevent  falling  off.  The  driver  of  a  vashok  might  possibly  sleep 
a  little  without  danger,  but  not  so  the  driver  of  a  kibitka. 

"My  kibitka  was  made  in  European  Russia,  and  was  said  to  have  trav- 


STARTING  ON  A  LONG  SLEIGH-RIDE. 


365 


elled  six  thousand  miles  before  I  owned  it.  In  my  possession  it  went  thir- 
ty-six hundred  miles,  and  was  certainly  good  for  several  thousand  more. 
In  the  whole  ride  it  cost  me  about  five  dollars  for  repairs,  principally  to 
the  shafts  and  fenders.  I  gave  eighty  roubles  for  the  sleigh  in  Irkutsk, 
and  sold  it  at  Nijni  Novgorod  for  ten. 

"  The  day  of  my  departure  was  spent  in  making  farewell  calls  and  get- 
ting the  baggage  in  readiness.     A  Russian  gentleman  was  to  accompany 


FAREWELL    TO    IRKUTSK. 


me  in  my  sleigh ;  two  ladies,  mother  and  daughter,  were  to  be  in  another ; 
and  two  servants  of  the  ladies,  a  man  and  a  maid,  were  to  be  in  a  third. 
The  ladies  lived  in  Irkutsk,  and  we  were  to  dine  at  their  house  and  start 
from  it.     At  the  appointed  time  we  went  there. 

"  There  was  a  gay  party  at  the  dinner,  and  when  it  was  over  the  start- 
ing signal  was  given.  All  present  seated  themselves  around  the  parlor, 
and  a  few  moments  were  given  to  silent  prayer,  the  travellers  asking,  and 
the  others  wishing  for  them,  a  safe  journey.  On  rising,  all  who  professed 
the  religion  of  the  Eastern  Church  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  before  the 
ikon,  or  holy  picture,  and  bowed  towards  it.     Every  true  Russian  scrupu- 


366  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

lously  observes  this  ceremony  before  starting  on  a  journey,  whether  by 
land  or  water. 

"  The  Angara  sweeps  gracefully  around  two  sides  of  Irkutsk,  and 
many  of  the  houses  are  on  the  bank.  There  is  a  swinging  ferry  to  con- 
nect the  opposite  shores  :  the  boat  is  at  the  end  of  a  strong  cable,  anchored 
nearly  a  mile  up  the  stream,  and  it  is  swung  across  through  the  force 
of  the  current  against  its  sides.  Starting  for  Moscow  it  is  necessary  to 
cross  the  river,  and  I  was  told  there  would  be  some  friends  at  the  ferry  to 
see  me  off.  We  had  a  good  deal  of  seeing  off,  as  nearly  a  dozen  sleighs, 
filled  with  friends  of  my  companions,  were  to  accompany  us  to  the  first 
station. 

"  When  we  reached  the  bank  it  was  the  close  of  the  day ;  in  fact,  dusk 
was  about  coming  on.  The  ferry-boat  was  coming  from  the  other  shore. 
I  looked,  and  saw  it  was  dressed  in  flags  and  Chinese  lanterns ;  I  looked 
again,  and  there  were  American  flags ! — four  American  flags  and  one  Rus- 
sian. It  was  the  first  time  my  national  standard  had  ever  been  hoisted  at 
Irkutsk. 

"  There  was  a  lump  in  my  throat  and  a  film  over  my  eyes  as  I  raised 
my  cap  and  tried  to  give  three  cheers.  My  voice  proved  to  be  husky,  and 
the  effort  was  not  crowned  with  distinguished  success.  It  was  a  surprise 
planned  by  several  of  my  Russian  friends ;  when  it  was  all  over,  I  remem- 
bered how  one  of  the  ladies  had  asked  me  several  days  before  how  the 
American  flag  was  made,  and  obtained  from  me  a  drawing  showing  the 
arrangement  of  stripes  and  stars.  There  wasn't  an  American  flag  in  Ir- 
kutsk, and  they  had  caused  these  to  be  made  for  the  occasion." 

"  What  a  hospitable  people  they  must  be  at  Irkutsk !"  said  Frank. 
Fred  echoed  the  sentiment,  and  so  did  Doctor  Bronson.  The  latter  said 
it  was  only  those  who  had  been  a  long  time  from  home  who  could  appre- 
ciate the  feeling  that  comes  over  a  man  when  he  sees  his  country's  flag 
thus  displayed. 

"  After  many  expressions  of  good-will  and  good  wishes  for  everybody, 
and  hand-shakings  without  number,  our  sleighs  were  driven  on  the  ferry- 
boat, and  we  swung  across  the  Angara.  At  the  first  station  we  made  a 
merry  party  till  a  late  hour ;  then  the  friends  who  came  to  see  us  off  re- 
turned to  Irkutsk,  while  we  travellers  took  to  our  sleighs  and  went  com- 
fortably to  sleep,  while  our  horses  dashed  gayly  over  the  smooth  road. 

"  For  the  first  fifty  miles  after  leaving  Irkutsk  the  road  follows  the 
bank  of  the  Angara ;  at  times  we  were  close  to  the  dark  waters,  and  never 
far  away  from  them.  A  dense  fog,  or  frost-cloud,  lay  on  the  river ;  the 
night  was  cold,  and  the  moisture  congealed  on  everything  where  it  could 


TRAVELLING  IN  THE   FROST. 


361 


find  a  resting-place.     In  the  morning  every  part  of  my  sleigh  save  the 

ith  hoar-frost.  Each  little  fibre  projecting 
that  formed  the  cover  had  been  turned  to  a 
the  head  of  every  nail  and  bolt  resembled 
white  without  regard  to  their  natural  color, 
drivers  had  come  in  for  their  share  of  the 


running  portion  was  white  w 
from  the  canvas  and  matting 
stalactite  or  a  stalagmite,  and 
oxydized  silver.     Horses  were 
and  even  the  garments  of  the 
congelation. 

"Many  times  afterwards 
the  work  of  the  frost-king. 


I  had  occasion  to  remark  the  beauties  of 
Houses  and  fences  were  cased  in  ice,  its 


-"-V,,., „;J5&__  •  ■*=>«        «s^ 


WORK    OF   THE    FROST-KING. 


thickness  varying  with  the  condition  of  the  weather.  Trees  and  bushes 
were  covered  with  crystals,  and  in  the  morning  sunlight  they  sparkled  as 
though  coated  with  diamonds.  Sometimes  the  trees  resembled  fountains 
caught  and  frozen  when  in  full  action.  The  pictured  delineations  of  the 
frost  had  all  the  varieties  of  the  kaleidoscope,  but  without  its  colors. 

"  During  the  night  I  slept  well,  in  spite  of  several  severe  thumps  re- 
ceived from  sleighs  going  in  the  other  direction.     Russian  sleighs  are  so 


368  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

built  that  two  of  them  can  run  together  with  considerable  force  without 
serious  consequences.  Look  at  the  picture  of  a  vashok  and  you  will  un- 
derstand it. 

"The  runners  are  about  thirty  inches  apart,  and  generally  shod  with 
iron.  On  each  side  there  is  a  fender,  which  cousists  of  a  stout  pole  fast- 
ened to  the  forward  end  of  the  runner,  and  extending  downward  and 
outward  to  the  rear,  where  it  is  about  two  feet  from  the  runner  and  held 
by  strong  braces.  On  a  level  surface  it  is  just  clear  of  the  snow,  but 
when  the  vehicle  tips  ever  so  little  the  fender  sustains  the  weight  and  pre- 
vents an  overturn.  When  two  sleighs  moving  in  opposite  directions  come 
together,  the  fenders  slip  against  each  other  like  a  pair  of  fencing  foils. 

"  Occasionally  the  shock  of  meeting  is  so  severe  that  the  fenders  are 
broken.  An  accident  of  this  kind  happened  one  day  to  my  kibitka,  the 
fender  on  one  side  being  completely  torn  off.  At  the  next  station  I  sum- 
moned a  carpenter  and  had  the  missing  fender  restored  and  made  stronger 
than  it  was  before." 

Frank  asked  how  the  traveller's  baggage  was  carried  in  a  Siberian 
sleigh  ? 

"  Baggage  is  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the  sleigh,"  said  Mr.  liegeman, 
in  reply  to  the  question.  "Wooden  and  other  solid  trunks  must  be  dis- 
carded, and  in  their  place  the  Russians  have  what  they  call  chemidans. 
The  chemidan  is  made  of  soft  leather,  very  broad  and  flat,  and  must  not 
be  filled  with  fragile  articles.  For  ladies1  bonnets  and  other  crushable 
things  there  are  chemidans  which  more  resemble  the  packing-case  of  a 
framed  picture  than  anything  else ;  the}7  fit  easily  into  the  bottom  of  a 
sleigh  or  tarantasse,  and  are  strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  trav- 
eller. Baggage  is  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the  vehicle,  and  the  chinks 
and  crevices  are  filled  with  straw  or  hay  to  make  as  level  a  surface  as  pos- 
sible. Over  this  is  spread  a  rug  of  sheepskins.  There  is  no  seat  as  in  an 
ordinary  vehicle,  but  you  sit  there  very  much  as  you  would  on  the  carpet 
in  the  corner  of  a  room.  Each  traveller  has  a  corner  of  the  sleigh,  and 
wedges  himself  into  a  comfortable  position  by  means  of  pillows  ;  he  may 
lie  down,  recline,  or  sit  bolt  upright  as  he  chooses." 

"  Did  you  carry  your  provisions  for  the  road,  or  could  you  rely  upon 
the  stations  to  furnish  them  V  Fred  inquired. 

""We  could  rely  upon  the  stations  for  the  samovar  with  hot  water,  and 
for  bread  and  eggs,"  was  the  reply,  "  the  same  as  in  the  tarantasse  journey 
I  have  already  described,  but  everything  else  that  we  wanted  had  to  be 
carried  along.  We  had  our  own  tea  and  sugar,  likewise  our  roast-beef, 
cabbage-soup,  and  pilmcmia." 


PROVISIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD. 


369 


"  What  is  pilmania?" 

"The  best  thing  imaginable  for  this  kind  of  travelling.  It  consists  of 
a  piece  of  cooked  meat — beef  or  mutton — about  the  size  of  a  grape,  sea- 
soned and  wrapped  in  a  thin  covering  of  dough,  and  then  rolled  in  flour. 
We  had  at  starting  nearly  a  bushel  of  these  dough-covered  meat-balls  frozen 
solid  and  carried  in  a  bag.  When  we  reached  a  station  where  we  wished 
to  dine,  sup,  or  breakfast,  we  ordered  the  samovar,  and  said  we  had  pil- 
mania, before  getting  out  of  the  sleigh.     A  pot  of  water  was  immediately 


INTERIOR    OF    A    RUSSIAN    INN. 


put  on  the  fire  and  heated  to  the  boiling-point ;  then  a  double  handful  of 
our  pilmania  was  dropped  into  the  pot,  the  water  was  brought  to  the  boil 
again  and  kept  simmering  for  a  few  minutes.  The  result  was  a  rich  meat- 
soup  which  Delmonico  could  not  surpass. 

"  The  bag  containing  the  frozen  pilmania  seemed  to  be  filled  with  wal- 
nuts. Our  cabbage-soup  was  in  cakes  like  small  bricks,  and  our  roast- 
beef  resembled  red  granite.     We  carved   the   beef  with  a  hatchet,  and 

24 


370 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


then  thawed  out  the  slices  while  waiting  for  the  samovar.  We  had  par- 
tridges cooked  and  frozen.  With  all  the  articles  I  have  named  for  dinner, 
what  more  could  we  wish,  especially  when  we  had  appetites  sharpened  by 
travelling  in  the  keen,  pure  air  of  Siberia  ?" 

"  Wasn't  there  danger,  while  you  were  in  the  stations  eating  your 
meals,  that  things  would  be  stolen  from  the  sleigh  ?"  was  the  next  inter- 
rogatory by  one  of  the  youths. 

"  I  had  fears  of  that  before  starting,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  my  friends 
assured  me  that  thefts  from  vehicles  on  the  post-roads  were  very  rare. 

There  were  always  several 
employes  of  the  station 
moving  about,  or  engaged 
in  harnessing  or  unharness- 
ing the  teams,  so  that  out- 
siders had  little  chance  to 
pilfer  without  being  dis- 
covered. The  native  Si- 
berians have  a  good  repu- 
tation for  honesty,  and  the 
majority  of  those  exiled  for 
minor  offences  lead  correct 
lives.  According  to  my 
experience,  the  Siberians 
are  more  honest  than  the 
inhabitants  of  European 
Russia.  After  passing  the 
Ural  Mountains  we  always 
employed  somebody  to 
watch  the  sleigh  while  we 
were  at  meals  in  the  sta- 
tion, which  we  did  not  do 
while  in  Siberia. 
"  The  gentleman  who  rode  with  me  was  an  officer  in  the  Russian  serv- 
ice; he,  like  myself,  carried  a  second-class  paderojnia,  but  the  ladies  had 
only  a  third-class  one.  On  the  second  day  of  our  journey,  just  as  we  had 
finished  dinner  and  our  teams  were  ready  to  start,  it  was  announced  that 
the  post  with  five  vehicles  was  approaching.  We  donned  our  furs  very 
quickly,  while  our  servants  gathered  up  our  part  of  the  dinner  equip- 
ment. Leaving  enough  money  on  the  table  to  pay  for  what  we  had  re- 
ceived from  the  station,  we  bundled  into  our  vehicles  and  bastened  away. 


MAIL-DIUVER    AND    C.CAKD. 


FEES  TO   THE   DRIVERS. 


371 


There  was  no  danger  of  our  losing  the  two  teams  which  had  been  se- 
cured on  the  second-class  paderojnias,  but  we  were  not  at  all  certain  about 
the  other.  If  there  had  not  been  sufficient  horses  at  the  station  for  the 
post,  our  third  team  would  have  been  taken  from  us,  and  we  might  have 
waited  for  hours  before  obtaining  horses.  The  best  way  of  solving  the 
problem  was  to  be  out  of  the  way  when  it  came  up  for  solution.  As  the 
man  said  of  a  railway  accident,  '  Presence  of  mind  is  good,  but  absence  of 
body  is  better.' 

"We  obtained  excellent  speed  from  the  horses  where  the  roads  were 
good,  as  we  gave  a  fee  to  the  drivers  at  the  end  of  their  routes,  proportion- 
ing it  according  to  the  character  of  their  service.  My  sleigh  generally 
took  the  lead,  and  we  always  promised  a  liberal  gratuity  for  extra  rate  of 


■ 
- 

_- 


DISTANT    VIEW    OF    A    SIBERIAN    VILLAGE. 


progress.  The  regulations  require  that  vehicles  not  on  Government  service 
shall  go  at  a  pace  of  ten  versts  (six  and  two-third  miles)  an  hour,  provided 
the  roads  are  in  good  condition.  If  a  driver  just  came  up  to  the  regula- 
tions and  no  more,  we  gave  him  eight  or  ten  copecks  ;  if  he  was  accommo- 
dating and  energetic,  we  increased  his  gratuity  accordingly.  Fifteen  co- 
peeks  was  a  liberal  reward,  twenty  munificent,  twenty-five  princely,  and 


372  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

thirty  imperial.  We  went  at  breakneck  pace  where  the  roads  permitted, 
and  often  where  they  did  not.  Occasionally  we  stimulated  the  drivers  to 
a  race,  and  then  our  progress  was  exciting,  as  well  as  dangerous. 

"  The  post  was  carried  twice  a  week  each  way,  and  we  frequently  en- 
countered it.  The  bags  contained  merchandise  in  addition  to  letters  and 
newspapers,  as  the  Government  does  a  sort  of  express  business  through 
the  post-office,  to  the  great  convenience  of  the  public.  This  accounted  for 
the  large  number  of  vehicles  employed.  Travellers  may  purchase  tickets 
and  have  their  carriages  accompany  the  post,  but  in  so  doing  they  are 
liable  to  a  good  many  extortions.  Each  convoy  is  accompanied  by  a  pos- 
tilion or  guard,  who  is  responsible  for  its  security  ;  he  is  usually  a  soldier, 
and  must  be  armed  to  repel  robbers.  Sometimes  these  postilions  were  so 
stuck  around  with  pistols  that  they  resembled  travelling  arsenals,  and  must 
have  been  very  dangerous  to  themselves." 

Frank  asked  how  many  horses  were  required  for  the  service  of  the  post 
at  each  station. 

"  The  rules  require  each  station-master  to  keep  ten  troikas,  or  thirty 
horses,  ready  for  use ;  many  stations  had  forty  or  fifty  horses  each,  and  the 
villages  could  generally  supply  any  reasonable  demand  after  those  in  the 
station  were  exhausted.  Fourteen  yemshicks  (drivers)  are  kept  at  every 
station  ;  they  are  boarded  by  the  smotretal,  and  receive  about  four  dollars 
each  a  month,  in  addition  to  whatever  gratuities  they  can  pick  up.  When 
the  post  was  expected  they  generally  whispered  that  fact  to  our  man- 
servant, so  that  we  could  get  away  as  soon  as  possible.  They  preferred  our 
service  to  that  of  the  post,  as  we  could  be  relied  upon  for  gratuities,  while 
none  were  obtainable  from  the  inanimate  bags  of  the  Government  mail. 

"Our  good  road  lasted  for  two  days  and  into  the  early  hours  of  the 
third  ;  then  the  snow  became  very  thin,  and  at  times  we  were  dragged 
over  bare  ground  for  considerable  distances.  From  very  cold  the  weather 
turned  to  warm,  and  threatened  to  spoil  our  provisions  as  well  as  the  roads. 

"Winter  is  by  far  the  best  time  for  travelling  in  Siberia,  though  at 
first  thought  one  would  suppose  the  summer  preferable.  In  summer  the 
weather  is  hot,  there  are  clouds  of  dust  when  no  rain  falls,  and  long 
stretches  of  mud  when  it  does;  there  are  swarms  and  swarms  of  mos- 
quitoes, flies,  and  all  sorts  of  winged  things  that  trouble  traveller  and 
horses  to  a  terrible  degree.  There  is  one  kind  of  fly  that  drives  the  horses 
into  a  frenzy,  so  that  they  sometimes  break  away  from  the  carriages  or  be- 
come unmanageable.  A  Russian  gravely  told  me  that  this  Siberian  horse- 
fly could  bite  through  an  iron  stove-pipe  without  hurting  his  teeth,  but 
I'm  inclined  to  doubt  it. 


SLEIGHING  ON  BARE   GROUND. 


373 


"  Then,  too,  there  are  many  streams  to  be  crossed  by  fording  or  ferry- 
ing, and  often  there  are  long  delays  at  the  ferries.  Fresh  provisions  can 
only  be  carried  for  a  day  or  two  at  most,  and  a  traveller  must  load  his 


SOLDIERS    IN    SIBERIAN    FERRY-BOATS. 


vehicle  with  a  liberal  stock  of  canned  goods  or  run  the  risk  of  a  very  hard 
time.  The  frost  seals  up  the  rivers,  causes  the  mosquitoes,  flies,  dust,  mud. 
and  kindred  annoyances  to  disappear,  and  preserves  your  provisions  for  an 
indefinite  period,  except  when  a  '  thaw '  comes  on.  If  you  ever  make  a 
journey  through  Siberia,  by  all  means  make  it  in  winter. 

"  The  last  hundred  miles  of  our  ride,  from  Irkutsk  to  Krasnoyarsk,  was 
made  over  more  bare  ground  than  snow.  In  some  places  we  had  five  or 
six  horses  to  each  carriage,  and  even  then  our  progress  was  slow.  Fort- 
unately it  became  cold  again,  but  the  sky  was  cloudless ;  we  longed  for 
snow  to  cover  the  ground  and  improve  the  condition  of  the  roads. 

"  The  last   morning  we  took  breakfast  at  a  station  fifty  versts  from 


.-574 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


Krasnoyarsk,  and  learned  that  for  the  last  thirty  versts  before  reaching 
the  city  there  was  absolutely  no  snow.  Very  curiously  the  snow  extended 
up  to  the  door  of  the  station,  and  disappeared  not  more  than  a  yard  be- 
yond it !  Looking  one  way  there  was  bare  ground  ;  looking  the  other 
the  road  was  good  for  sleighing. 

"  Over  cakes  and  tea  we  arranged  our  programme,  which  resulted  in  the 
ladies  leaving  their  vashok  until  their  return  to  Irkutsk,  and  riding  into 
town  on  a  telega.  My  sleigh  and  the  other  were  unloaded,  the  baggage 
was  piled  into  telegas,  the  sleighs  were  mounted  on  wagons  which  we 


V1KW   OF   KRASNOYARSK   FKOM   THF.   OPPOSITE   Ua.NK   OF  THF   YKMISKI. 


hired  from  the  peasants,  and  with  very  little  trouble  the  whole  difficulty 
was  adjusted.  Altogether  we  were  not  at  the  station  more  than  an  hour, 
and  at  least  half  that  time  was  taken  for  lunch." 

Fred  asked  how  it  happened  that  there  was  good  sleighing  in  one  direc- 
tion and  hardly  any  snow  in  the  other. 

"  It  is  a  climatic  peculiarity,"  Mr.  liegeman  explained,  "and  is  not  con- 
fined to  that  locality.  You  remember  I  mentioned  Chetah,  the  first  pro- 
vincial capital  as  you  go  west  from  the  Amoor  River.     At  Chetah  very 


A  RUSSIAN   SLEIGHING-SONG.  375 

little  snow  falls  in  the  winter,  and  sometimes  for  the  entire  year  wheels 
must  be  used.  Krasnoyarsk  is  in  the  valley  of  the  Yenisei  River,  and  they 
told  me  that  very  little  snow  falls  within  twenty  miles  of  the  town,  and  in 
some  winters  none  at  all.     I  must  leave  the  scientific  men  to  explain  it. 

"  I  heard  a  story  at  Krasnoyarsk  of  an  Englishman  who  was  trav- 
elling alone  through  Siberia  a  few  winters  before  the  time  of  my  visit. 
Finding  no  snow  there  on  his  arrival,  he  decided  to  wait  until  it  fell,  and 
the  roads  would  be  good  enough  for  him  to  proceed.  He  waited  days 
and  days,  but  no  snow.  The  days  grew  into  weeks,  and  the  weeks  into 
months,  but  still  no  snow.  He  remained  sullenly  at  the  hotel  or  wandered 
about  the  streets  ;  the  hotebkeeper  did  not  enlighten  him,  as  he  was  a  good 
customer,  and  the  stranger  did  not  seek  counsel  of  any  one  else.  He  might 
have  been  there  to  this  day  had  he  not  met  in  the  hotel  a  fellow-country- 
man who  was  travelling  eastward.  The  latter  explained  the  climatic  con- 
ditions of  the  place  to  his  long-detained  compatriot,  and  then  the  latter 
made  arrangements  for  proceeding  on  his  journey. 

"  Before  I  forget  it,"  continued  Mr.  Hegeman,  "  let  me  say  that  the 
Russians  have  several  songs  in  which  the  delights  of  sleighing  are  de- 
scribed. Here  is  one  of  them,  which  may  possibly  need  the  explanation 
that  the  duga  is  the  yoke  over  the  shaft-horse's  neck,  and  Valdai  is  the 
place  where  the  most  famous  bells  of  Russia  are  cast.  You  already  know 
that  a  troika  is  a  team  of  three  horses  harnessed  abreast — 


"  'Away,  away,  along  the  road, 
The  fiery  troika  bounds  ; 
While  'neath  the  duga,  sadly  sweet, 
The  Valdai  bell  resounds. 

"  '  Away,  away,  we  leave  the  town, 
Its  roofs  and  spires,  behind, 
The  crystal  snow-flakes  dance  around 
As  o'er  the  steppe  we  wind. 

"'Away,  away,  the  glittering  stars 
Shine  greeting  from  above  ; 
Our  hearts  beat  fast  as  on  we  glide. 
Swift  as  the  flying  dove.' 

"  I  will  tell  you  of  a  sleigh-ride  in  which  there  is  less  poetry  than  in 
the  song  I  have  quoted. 

"  An  English  gentleman  was  stopping  with  some  Siberian,  friends,  and 
one  day  it  was  proposed  to  take  a  ride  in  a  sledge.     The  Englishman  had 


376 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


A    DANGEROUS    RIDE. 


taken  his  seat  and  the  driver  was  about  mounting  to  his  place,  when  the 
horses  made  a  sudden  start  and  dragged  the  reins  from  the  driver's  hands. 

"All  that  the  Englishman  could  do  was  to  hold  on,  and  this  be  did  to 
the  best  of  bis  ability.  Tbe  horses  made  straight  for  a  ravine  two  or  three 
hundred  feet  deep;  the  unfortunate  passenger  and  his  friends  thought  lie 
was  going  to  certain  death,  but  as  they  reached  the  edge  of  tbe  ravine  the 
horses  whirled  about  and  ran  in  the  opposite  direction. 

"  The  sledge  in  turning  was  swung  over  the  abyss,  and  bung  for  an  in- 
stant in  the  air;  the  team  ran  two  or  three  miles  before  it  was  stopped 
by  one  of  the  horses  stumbling  among  some  logs.  Severely  bruised  and 
with  his  hand  half  crushed,  the  Englishman  got  out  of  the  sledge,  and 
concluded  he  had  bad  all  tbe  riding  be  desired  for  that  day  at  least." 


PECULIARITIES   OF  KRASNOYARSK.  377 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

POSITION  AND  CHARACTER  OF  KRASNOYARSK.— A  LESSON  IN  RUSSIAN  PRONUN- 
CIATION.—MARKET  SCENE.— SIBERIAN  TREES.— THE  OUKEABA.—A  NEW  SEN- 
SATION. —  ROAD  -  FEVER  AND  ITS  CAUSE.  — AN  EXCITING  ADVENTURE  WITH 
WOLVES.  — HOW  WOLVES  ARE  HUNTED. —  FROM  KRASNOYARSK  TO  TOMSK- 
STEAM  NAVIGATION  IN  SIBERIA.— BARNAOOL.— MINES  OF  THE  ALTAI.— TIGERS 
AND  TIGER  STORIES.— THE  BO URAN.— ACROSS  THE  I3ARABA  STEPPE.— TUMEN 
AND  EKATERINEBURG.  —  FROM  EUROPE  TO  ASIA. —  PERM,  KAZAN,  AND  NUN! 
NOVGOROD.— END  OF  THE  SLEIGH-RIDE. 

FRANK  asked  what  was  meant  by  the  word  Krasnoyarsk  :  was  it  de- 
rived from  a  river,  a  mountain,  or  did  it  belong  to  an  individual? 

" Krasnoe"  said  Mr.  liegeman,  "means  'red,'  and  Krasnoyarsk  gets 
its  name  from  the  red  cliffs  of  the  Yenisei  on  which  it  stands.  All  around 
the  town  the  soil  is  of  a  reddish  hue,  and  so  are  the  hills  that  form  the 
horizon  in  every  direction.  The  Yenisei  is  a  fine  river,  one  of  the  largest 
in  Siberia,  and  where  it  passes  Krasnoyarsk  it  is  fully  half  a  mile  wide. 
In  summer  there  are  two  or  three  steamboats  running  to  the  Arctic  Ocean 
from  a  point  a  little  below  Krasnoyarsk  ;  rapids  and  shoals  prevent  their 
coming  up  to  the  town.  The  tributaries  of  the  river  are  rich  in  gold  de- 
posits, and  many  of  the  residents  have  grown  wealthy  by  gold-mining. 

"  Krasnoyarsk  has  a  population  of  about  twelve  thousand,  and  in  a  gen- 
eral way  is  a  sort  of  pocket  edition  of  Irkutsk.  It  is  the  capital  of  the 
province  of  Yeniseisk,  and  the  centre  of  trade  for  a  wide  extent  of  coun- 
try. Markets,  churches,  and  buildings  in  general  are  like  those  of  Irkutsk, 
and  there  is  an  appearance  of  prosperity  throughout  the  place." 

Fred  asked  how  it  happened  that  the  names  of  nearly  all  the  towns  in 
Siberia  ended  in  "sk."  They  had  been  hearing  about  Irkutsk,  Yeniseisk, 
Selenginsk,  and  he  didn't  know  how  many  others. 

Dr.  Bronson  came  to  the  young  man's  relief  as  follows : 

"  I  think  you  learned  in  St.  Petersburg  that  the  termination  '  sk '  is 
equivalent  to  'of  in  English?" 

"Certainly,"  replied  Fred,  "I  learned  that  'vitch'  means  'son  of." 
Paul  Ivanovitch,  for  example,  being  Paul,  son  of  Ivan.  I  understand  also 
that  Alexandrovsky  was  named  after  Alexander,  Petrovski  after  Peter, 


378 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


Nieolayevsk  after  Nicholas,  and  so  on  through  the  list  of  Russian  saints 
and  emperors.  But  I've  not  heard  of  any  distinguished  personages  with 
the  names  I've  just  quoted  belonging  to  towns  or  cities." 

"  These  Siberian  names  really  assist  the  memory  in   a  geographical 
way,"  the  Doctor  answered,  "  as  they  tell  ns  where  the  town  is  located. 


BEGGAIt    AT    A    SIBERIAN    STATION. 


Selenginsk  is  on  the  Selenga  River ;  Irkutsk  is  on  the  Irkut,  where  it  emp- 
ties into  the  Angara ;  Yeniseisk  (province)  is  in  the  valley  of  the  Yenisei, 
and  the  town  of  that  name  is  on  the  river's  bank.  In  the  same  way  Omsk 
is  on  the  Om,  Tomsk  on  the  Tom,  Tobolsk  on  the  Tobol,  Irbitsk  on  the 
Irbit,  and  Kansk  on  the  Kan.    The  list  could  be  extended  to  great  length." 

"  I  must  make  a  note  of  that,"  said  Fred, "  as  it  will  be  of  use  to  stu- 
dents of  geography  in  the  schools  at  home.  But  what  hard  words  they 
are  to  pronounce !" 

"  They  are  not  as  difficult  as  they  seem  at  first  sight,"  said  the  Doctor. 
"The  chief  difficulty  comes  from  our  knowing  they  are  Russian,  and  ex- 
pecting they  will  twist  our  tongues.  Three  consonants  together  are  terri- 
ble— in  Russian  ;  in  English  they  are  easy  enough." 


A  LESSON  IN   RUSSIAN  PRONUNCIATION.  379 

"  I  quite  agree  with  yon,"  said  Mr.  Hegeman.  "  After  I  went  to 
America,  on  my  retnrn  from  Siberia,  many  of  my  friends  complained  of 
the  jaw-breaking  names  of  the  places  I  had  visited,  and  declared  they 
never  could  speak  them.  A  lady  of  my  acquaintance  tried  in  vain  to 
pronounce  Irkutsk ;  its  three  consonants,  t,  s,  and  7c,  were  too  much  for 
her,  but  she  had  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  asking  me  about  the  fasts 
and  feasts  of  the  Church.  The  s,  t,  and  *  of  '  fasts '  and  '  feasts '  are  con- 
sonants, and  just  as  difficult  of  pronunciation  as  the  others ;  but  the  one 
set  is  Russian  and  the  other  'English,  you  know.' 

"  Let  me  suggest  an  easy  way  of  wrestling  with  the  Russian  terminals 
tsk,  nsk,  msk,  and  the  like : 

"  If  you're  struggling  with  Irkutsk  take  the  word  '  coot,'  which  is  per- 
fectly familiar  to  you.  Put  an  s  to  it  and  make  'coots,'  and  then  a  A*  to 
that  and  make  '  cootsk  '  or  '  kutsk.'  With  the  prefix  er  you  have  the  capi- 
tal of  Eastern  Siberia  before  3'ou. 

"In  the  same  way  dispose  of  Kansk  by  building  up  the  word  'can' 
till  you  have  reached  the  end.  The  other  terminals  which  seem  so  diffi- 
cult may  be  rendered  perfectly  innocuous  to  the  organs  of  speech  if  kind- 
ly and  intelligently  treated. 

"To  return  to  Krasnoyarsk  and  its  snowless  district.  - 

"  A  description  of  the  place,  its  buildings,  markets,  and  other  features 
would  be  nearly  a  repetition  of  that  of  Irkutsk,  but  on  a  smaller  scale. 
In  the  market  I  was  particularly  interested  in  the  character  and  abun- 
dance of  the  fish  offered  for  sale.  Among  them  were  pike,  sturgeon, 
perch,  and  others  with  which  I  was  familiar,  and  there  was  one  fish  which 
closely  resembled  the  smelt.  Another  that  I  had  never  before  seen  had 
a  bill  resembling  that  of  a  duck  and  a  long  and  thin  body.  All  these 
fishes  came  from  the  Yenisei  or  its  tributaries ;  some  of  them  dwell  per- 
manently in  the  river,  and  others  ascend  in  the  summer  from  the  Arctic 
Ocean. 

" There  is  a  fish  called  omulli  by  the  Russians,  and  evidently  a  mem- 
ber of  the  trout  family.  It  lives  in  the  smaller  streams  of  Siberia,  and 
furnishes  a  caviar  that  is  greatly  prized.  The  omulli's  caviar  is  of  a  gold- 
en color,  and  quite  in  contrast  with  the  black  caviar  made  from  the  roe  of 
the  sturgeon. 

"The  Yenisei  at  Krasnoyarsk  has  a  swift  current,  and  resembles  the 
Mississippi  at  St.  Louis,  according  to  the  descriptions  they  gave  me.  Of 
course  I  could  not  verify  the  statement,  as  the  river  was  frozen  over  at 
the  time  of  my  visit.  The  width  and  volume  of  the  Yenisei  gave  inter- 
est to  a  story  which  was  told  by  one  of  the  residents : 


380 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  One  of  the  good  citizens  of  Krasnoyarsk  Lad  been  attending  a  wed- 
ding on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  started  for  home  rather  late  at 
night,  with  the  intention  of  reaching  the  ferry  about  daylight.  lie  was 
in  a  telega  drawn  by  two  horses ;  on  the  way  from  the  wedding  he  fell 
asleep,  and  the  horses  took  their  own  course.  When  they  readied  the 
river  they  were  doubtless  hungry,  and  impatient  to  return  to  their  stable. 
The  ferry-boat  was  on  the  other  side,  and  the  animals  did  not  choose  to 
wait.  They  plunged  in  and  started  across ;  the  telega,  being  wholly  of 
wood,  had  sufficient  buoyancy  to  keep  it  afloat,  but  the  occupant  was  awak- 
ened by  the  cold  bath.     Though  frightened  half  to  death,  he  had  the  good 

sense  to  lie  perfectly  still  and  make 
the  best  of  the  situation  ;  the  hardy 
beasts  took  him  safely  over,  but  he 
never  eared  to  repeat  the  advent- 
ure. The  few  individuals  that  saw 
him  coming  in  the  early  daylight 
could  hardly  believe  their  eyes ;  and 
one,  at  least,  thought  it  was  Nep- 
tune in  his  chariot  ascending  the 
waters  of  the  Yenisei." 

"  Another  illustration  of  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  horses  of  Siberia," 
said  Fred.  "I  long  to  travel  in 
that  country,  and  have  the  experi- 
ence of  riding  behind  them." 

Frank  asked  Mr.  liegeman  if 
there  were  any  high  mountains  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Krasnoyarsk. 

"  There  are  not,"  was  the  reply, 
"only  some  low  hills  and  rounded 
peaks  that  do  not  rise  to  the  height 
and  dignity  of  mountains.  I  believe  most  geographers  are  agreed  on 
applying  the  term  '  mountain '  only  to  elevations  of  fifteen  hundred  feet 
and  more,  everything  below  that  figure  being  called  a  hill.  Under  this 
restriction  there  are  no  mountains  on  the  road  through  Siberia  between 
Lake  Baikal  and  the  Ural  range.  Most  of  the  country  is  flat  and  unin- 
teresting ;  sometimes  it  is  a  perfectly  level  plain,  and  in  other  places  it 
is  undulating  like  a  rolling  prairie  in  Kansas  or  Nebraska.  Along  the 
rivers  it  is  broken  by  ranges  of  hills,  but  as  soon  as  you  go  back  from  the 
rivers  you  come  to  the  plain  again. 


POLICEMAN    AT    KRASNOYARSK. 


CHARACTER  OF  SIBERIAN  FORESTS. 


381 


"  Hour  after  hour,  and  day  after  day,  we  rode  over  this  monotonous 
country,  the  landscape,  or  rather  snowscape,  presenting  very  little  to  at- 
tract the  eye.  This  feature  of  the  country  makes  the  Siberian  journey  a 
dreary  one,  not  unlike  the  journey  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  before  the  days  of  the  transcontinental  railway." 

Fred  asked  if  this  level  part  of  Siberia  was  treeless  like  many  portions 
of  our  Western  country. 

"  There  is  a  vast  amount  of  treeless  land,"  said  Mr.  liegeman,  in  re- 
sponse to  the  inquiry,  "  but  it  is  not  all  of  that  sort.  There  are  many 
forests  of  birch,  pine,  spruce,  and  larch.     In  some  localities  birch  is  the 


HILLS    NEAR    A    SIBERIAN    RIVER. 


only  wood  for  building  purposes,  in  others  larch,  and  in  others  pine  or 
spruce.  Other  Siberian  trees  are  willow,  fir,  poplar,  elm,  and  maple.  Cen- 
tral and  Southern  Siberia  are  well  wooded,  but  the  farther  we  go  towards 
the  north  the  fewer  trees  do  we  find.  The  plains  bordering  the  Arctic 
Ocean  are  treeless ;  the  poplar  disappears  at  60°  north  latitude,  the  birch 
at  63°,  and  the  pine  and  larch  at  64°." 

"I  thought  I  had  read  about  a  species  of  cedar  that  grows  over  the 
plains  to  the  far  North,"  said  the  Doctor,  "and  that  it  serves  to  make 
that  region  habitable  by  furnishing  fuel  for  the  natives." 

"  I  was  about  to  mention  the  trailing  cedar,"  said  Mr.  liegeman.  "  The 
Russians  call  it  kedrevnik,  and  some  of  the  native  tribes  regard  it  as  a  spe- 
cial gift  of  Providence.     It  spreads  on  the  ground  like  a  vine,  and  has 


382 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


needles  and  cones  similar  to  those  of  the  cedar;  the  trunks  are  gnarled 
and  twisted,  very  difficult  to  cut  or  split,  but  vastly  preferable  to  no  wood 
at  all.  Thousands  of  miles  of  country  are  covered  with  the  trailing  cedar, 
and  in  winter  it  is  found  by  digging  in  the  snow. 

"  On  leaving  Krasnoyarsk,"  continued  Mr.  liegeman,  "  I  travelled  with 
a  gentleman  who  had  been  northward  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean 
during  the  previous  summer,  he  accompanying  me  in  my  sleigb,  while 
his  own  was  occupied  by  a  servant  and  a  goodly  amount  of  baggage.     For 


JUMPING    AN    "OUKHABA.' 


thirty  miles  there  was  no  snow,  and  so  we  mounted  our  sleighs  on  wagons 
and  sent  them  to  the  beginning  of  the  snow  road,  while  we  followed  in  a 
telega  a  few  hours  after  their  departure.  We  overtook  them  just  at  the 
beginning  of  the  snow  road,  and  were  glad  enough  to  change  from  the 
telega.  The  vehicle  had  no  springs,  and  we  were  shaken  in  it  worse  than 
if  tossed  in  a  blanket.  The  frozen  ground  was  rough,  and  reminded  me 
of  a  nutmeg-grater  on  a  Brobdingnagian  scale. 

"We  had  started  with  the  intention  of  overtaking  the  sleighs  before 
sunset,  but  our  slow  progress  over  the  rough  roads  had  so  delayed  us  that 
the  evening  was  well  advanced  before  our  destination  was  reached.  The 
transfer  of  baggage  was  made  in  the  moonlight ;  one  or  two  small  articles 
disappeared  in  the  operation,  but  whether  stolen  or  accidentally  lost  we 
never  knew. 

"  In  Irkutsk  I  had  been  told  that  a  new  sensation  awaited  me  in  the 
Siberian  ouhhdba,  and  I  found  it  on  the  first  night's  travelling  after  leav- 
ing Krasnoyarsk.     What  do  you  suppose  it  was  ?" 


THE   RUSSIAN   "ROAD   FEVER."  383 

Both  the  youths  shook  their  heads  and  said  they  didn't  know,  while 
Doctor  Bronson  preserved  a  discreet  silence. 

"  The  oukhaba  of  the  Siberian  road,"  Mr.  liegeman  explained, "  is  the 
equivalent  of  the  '  hog-wallow '  of  the  American  one  ;  the  former  is  formed 
in  the  snow,  and  the  latter  in  the  bare  ground.  It  is  caused  by  the  snow 
lying  in  drifts  or  ridges  when  it  is  blown  by  the  wind,  and  also  by  the 
roads  being  worn  with  much  travel.  The  road  is  a  succession  of  ridges 
and  hollows ;  the  drivers  go  at  full  speed,  without  the  slightest  regard  to 
the  pitching  and  tossing  of  the  sleigh,  and  the  result  is  a  severe  trial  of 
one's  nerves.  The  motion  causes  a  rush  of  blood  to  one's  head,  and  de- 
velops what  the  Russians  call  '  the  road-fever.' 

"  I  did  not  escape  the  road-fever,  and  to  this  day  I  shudder  when  think- 
ing of  this  part  of  my  experience,  the  most  disagreeable  feature  of  the 
journey.  My  body  was  sore  and  stiff;  at  every  jolt  it  seemed  as  though 
the  top  of  my  head  would  fly  off  ;  sleep  was  next  to  impossible  ;  and  when  I 
did  manage  to  slumber,  my  dreams  were  something  frightful.  My  temper 
was  spoiled,  and  a  quarrel  might  have  been  created  with  anything  and  any- 
body without  the  least  effort.  The  fever  runs  its  course  in  two  or  three 
days,  but  may  last  longer ;  as  long  as  the  roads  are  bad  the  inexperienced 
traveller  is  liable  to  it.  Sometimes  the  sleigh  made  a  clear  jump  of  five 
or  six  feet,  and  the  wonder  was  that  the  vehicle  did  not  go  to  pieces  and 
leave  us  hopelessly  wrecked." 

Fred  asked  if  any  wolves  were  seen  in  this  part  of  the  journey  or  else- 
where in  Siberia. 

"  Occasionally  we  saw  wolves,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  not  often.  There 
are  plenty  of  wolves  in  Siberia,  but  they  have  enough  to  live  upon  in  the 
game  that  abounds  everywhere,  so  that  they  are  not  likely  to  attack  trav- 
ellers. Siberian  and  American  wolves  are  much  alike,  but  the  former  are 
said  to  be  larger  and  fiercer  than  their  American  cousins. 

"  I  can  tell  you  some  wolf  stories,  but  they  do  not  belong  to  Siberia. 
It  is  only  in  Western  Russia  and  in  Poland  that  travellers  are  attacked  b}' 
wolves,  and  then  only  in  the  severest  winters,  when  game  is  very  scarce 
and  hunger  has  made  the  animals  desperate." 

"  Please  tell  us  one  of  those  stories,"  said  Frank.  "  I  have  read  ac- 
counts of  men  being  chased  by  wolves,  but  have  just  now  forgotten  what 
they  were." 

The  request  was  echoed  by  Fred,  and  Mr.  liegeman  kindly  gratified 
their  wish. 

"  To  begin  with,"  said  he,  "  the  horses  are  the  object  of  attack  and  not 
the  men  in  the  vehicle ;  but  of  course  when  the  horses  are  overpowered 


3  SI 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IX   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


the  wolves  make  no  distinction  and  devour  everything  edible.  When  des- 
perate they  will  venture  to  the  farm-yards  to  kill  sheep  and  cattle.  Their 
favorite  article  of  food,  other  than  wild  game,  is  a  pig,  and  the  squealing 
of  a  pig  is  an  appeal  that  no  hungry  wolf  can  resist. 

*'  Advantage  of  this  propensity  is  taken  by  those  who  go  out  to  hunt 
the  wolf  for  amusement.     On  a  moonlight  night  two  hunters  go  out  with 


WOLVES    ATTACKING    A    BUFFALO. 


an  open  sledge  drawn  by  two  horses ;  they  carry  their  guns,  with  plenty 
of  ammunition,  a  pig  tied  by  the  feet,  and  a  bag  of  hay,  together  with 
furs  and  robes  to  keep  them  warm.  When  they  reach  the  middle  of  the 
forest  where  the  wolves  abound,  the  horses'  heads  are  turned  towards  home, 
the  bag  of  hay,  fastened  to  a  rope  from  twenty  to  forty  feet  long,  is  thrown 
out,  and  the  pig's  ear  is  pinched  until  the  poor  creature  squeals  in  his  loud- 
est tones.  If  a  wolf  is  within  hearing  he  comes  at  once,  and  if  there  are  oth- 
er wolves  they  follow  him  and  his  example.  The  pig's  ear  is  continually 
twisted ;  the  squealing  resounds  through  the  forest,  and  when  the  wolves 
come  in  sight  they  mistake  the  bag  of  hay  for  the  animal  they  seek. 
They  rush  for  it,  and  as  they  come  within   range  are  shot  down.     The 


A   RUSSIAN  WOLF    BTOKY. 


385 


sleigh  does  not  stop  to  pick  up  the  game,  but  continues  its  course  at  a 
walk  or  slow  trot,  provided  the  driver  can  restrain  the  terror-stricken 
horses.  The  next  day  the  dead  wolves,  if  any,  are  gathered  for  the  sake 
of  their  skins. 

"  Sometimes  a  dozen  or  more  wolves  will  be  killed  in  this  way  in  a 
single  night,  but  more  frequently  the  hunters  return  empty-handed.  Some- 
times the  wolves  come  in  great  numbers,  and  with  so  much  fierceness  that 
the  hunters  are  obliged  to  flee  for  their  lives — not  always  successfully. 

"  And  now  comes  the  wolf  story  I  promised  ;  it  was  told  to  me  by  a 
Kussian  officer  some  years  ago,  and  I  will  endeavor  to  give  it  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  his  own  words.  Imagine  that  he  is  talking  to  you  as  he  talked 
to  me : 

" '  I  was  stopping  for  a  part  of  the  winter  at  the  house  of  a  fellow-offi- 
cer near  Vilna,  where  he  had  a  large  estate.     His  name  was  Selmanoff,  and 
he  was  noted  for  his  excellent 
horsemanship  and  his  love  for  all 
kinds  of  hunting  sport. 

"  '  The  winter  was  one  of  the 
worst  that  had  been  known  for 
a  long  while,  and  two  or  three 
times  we  heard  of  travellers 
through  the  forest  having  been 
pursued  by  wolves.  Of  course  , 
this  led  to  a  wolf  hunt,  which 
Selmanoff  proposed  and  I  heart- 
ily accepted. 

"  '  We  made  our  preparations, 
selecting  a  broad  sledge  open  all 

around,  and  formed  of  wicker-work,  so  that  it  was  light  as  well  as  strong. 
We  carried  two  short,  smooth-bore  guns  of  large  calibre — rifles  are  not 
desirable  on  these  hunts,  as  it  is  impossible  to  take  accurate  aim  from  the 
moving  sledge  in  the  moonlight.  The  guns  were  breech-loaders,  and 
the  charge  was  a  heavy  one  of  buck-shot  and  ball. 

"'We  had  two  horses,  young  and  powerful  beasts,  and  the  driver  was 
one  of  the  best  on  the  estate.  After  dining  heartily  we  started  about  sun- 
set and  drove  some  twenty  miles  or  so  into  the  middle  of  the  forest,  over  a 
good  road  which  had  been  trodden  by  the  peasants  carrying  their  produce 
to  the  market  at  the  nearest  town.  Our  decoy  pig  lay  quietly  among  the 
furs,  and  gave  no  sign  of  his  presence  save  an  occasional  grunt  of  dissatis- 
faction at  his  uncomfortable  position. 

25 


-^S& 


A    SIBERIAN    WOLF. 


386 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


they  came  withii 


"  '  At    the   spot  where 
the  hunt  was  to  begin  we 
turned  about  and  threw  out 
our    bag    of    hay ;    then    we 
twisted  the  pig's   ear  and  he 
protested  with  r,  loud  squeal. 
'"An  answering  howl   came 
from  the   forest,  and   seemingly 
not  a  dozen  yards  away.     Anoth- 
er   howl    and   another   followed 
quickly,  and  then  the  air  was  full 
of  them. 

'"In  a  minute  or  so  a  dark 
form  was  revealed  on  the  snow 
:>ehind  us,  and  making  straight 
for  the  hay-bag.  Selmanoff  gave 
me  the  first  fire,  and  I  took  it. 
The  wolf  fell  at  my  shot  just  as 
he  was  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
hag. 

"  '  But  another  came,  and  then 
another,  and    in   a   few   minutes 
there  were  a  dozen   or  more  in 
sight.     We  shot  them  as  fast  as 
ranee,  hut  the  numhers  did  not  diminish.     The  shoot- 


SCMMEIt    AND    WINTER    IN    RUSSIA 


CHASED   BY   WOLVES.  387 

ing  and  the  howling  of  the  wolves  frightened  the  horses,  and  the  driver 
had  a  difficult  task  to  restrain  them. 

"'As  the  wolves  increased  in  number,  we  saw  we  were  in  danger;  the 
extent  of  the  pack  was  far  beyond  our  expectation,  and  the  long-continued 
hunger  of  the  brutes  had  made  them  very  fierce.  The  shooting  of  one 
after  another  did  not  seem  to  restrain  their  ardor  in  the  least ;  those  that 
were  untouched  by  our  shot  dashed  madly  ahead,  and  showed  a  determina- 
tion to  appease  their  hunger  at  all  hazards. 

" '  Selmanoff  told  the  driver  to  increase  the  speed  of  the  horses.  He 
gave  the  order  not  a  moment  too  soon.  Just  as  the  horses  were  put  to  a 
gallop,  several  wolves  sprang  from  the  forest  at  our  side,  and  if  we  had 
been  going  slowly  they  would  have  easily  reached  the  sleigh.  As  it  was, 
we  passed  within  a  few  feet  of  them,  and  their  howls  of  angry  disappoint- 
ment rang  in  our  ears. 

"  '  We  cut  the  rope  that  held  the  hay-bag  ;  it  detained  our  pursuers  only 
a  few  moments,  as  they  quickly  discovered  it  was  not  what  they  wanted. 

"  '  On  they  came  again.  We  loaded  and  fired  as  fast  as  we  could  ;  there 
was  no  occasion  to  take  accurate  aim,  as  the  road  behind  us  was  fairly 
filled  with  wolves,  and  it  was  quite  sufficient  to  point  our  guns  at  the 
dark  mass  revealed  against  the  snow. 

" '  We  had  made  six  or  eight  miles  on  our  return,  when  an  additional 
danger  that  threatened  us  was  suggested  by  my  friend.  There  was  a  sharp 
angle  in  the  road  a  mile  or  so  ahead  of  us,  and,  at  the  pace  we  were  pro- 
ceeding, the  sledge  would  certainly  be  upset  in  going  around  the  angle. 
As  we  approached  the  point  of  peril  we  ceased  firing,  laid  our  guns  among 
the  furs,  ordered  the  speed  of  the  horses  to  be  slackened — no  easy  thing  to 
accomplish — and  then  both  of  us  hung  out  as  far  as  possible  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  sledge,  to  keep  it  from  going  over. 

" '  As  we  made  the  turn  the  sledge  was  poised  for  some  distance  on  one 
of  its  runners,  and  if  we  had  not  taken  all  the  precautions  I  have  named, 
it  would  have  gone  over.  From  this  point  was  a  clear  and  comparatively 
straight  run  homeward  of  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and  the  horses  were  put  to 
their  best  work.  They  had  no  need  of  urging,  as  they  knew  the  danger 
that  threatened  as  well  as  we  did. 

"  '  One  horse  stumbled  and  fell ;  he  was  up  in  an  instant,  but  not  before 
the  wolves  had  actually  reached  the  sledge.  One  of  them  jumped  direct- 
ly at  it,  but  as  he  did  so  I  pressed  the  muzzle  of  my  gun  to  his  head  and 
fired.  Another  sprang  upon  the  fallen  horse  as  he  was  rising  to  his  feet, 
but  was  shaken  off  before  he  obtained  a  good  hold  with  his  fangs. 

" '  The  servants  of  the  chateau  heard  us  coming  at  full  speed  and  our 


388 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


rapid  firing.  They  knew  something  was  the  matter,  and  as  we  neared  the 
house  they  began  shouting  and  waving  lanterns.  The  wolves  slackened 
their  speed  and  gave  up  the  chase,  but  not  until  we  were  within  a  hun- 
dred yards  of  safety. 

"  '  We  dashed  into  the  court-yard,  the  gates  were  closed,  and  then  Sel- 
nianoff  and  I.  both  fainting  from  exhaustion  after  our  terrible  ride,  were 


VILLAGE    ON    A    RUSSIAN    ESTATE. 


assisted  from  the  sledge  and  into  the  house.  You  may  be  sure  that  since 
then  I  have  never  wished  to  undertake  a  wolf-hunt  of  this  sort.' " 

"  An  excellent  story,"  said  Frank.  "  It  is  certainly  better  than  those 
wherein  people  are  obliged  to  draw  lots  to  see  who  shall  be  sacrificed  to 
the  wolves  in  order  that  the  others  may  escape." 

"I  agree  with  you,"  said  Fred.  "There's  quite  enough  of  the  sensa- 
tional in  having  everybody  get  away  safely  after  an  exciting  run,  instead 
of  being  eaten  up  by  their  pursuers.  If  only  the  wolves  are  killed  it  is 
all  right,  as  they  are  enemies  of  the  human  race,  and  do  no  good  to  any 
one  except  to  furnish   skins  for  sleigh -robes,  rugs,  and  other   useful  or 


ornamental  tilings." 


It  was  agreed  unanimously  that  the  best  known  use  for  a  wolf  was  to 
convert  his  skin  into  something  of  the  kind  described.  When  this  deci- 
sion had  been  reached,  the  conversation  reverted  to  the  sleigh-ride  through 
Siberia. 


ARRIVAL  AT   TOMSK. 


389 


"  We  left  the  road  in  pursuit  of  wolves,  while  travelling  westward 
from  Krasnoyarsk,"  said  Mr.  Hegeman. 

"Jumping  oukhabas,"  suggested  one  of  the  youths. 

"  Yes,  that  was  it  exactly.  "Well,  we  jumped  oukhabas,  rode  over  bare 
ground,  were  caught  in  a  snow-storm,  and  had  a  tough  time  generally  till 
we  reached  Tomsk,  the  next  provincial  capital.     It  takes  its  name  from 


A    SLIGHT    MISHAP. 


the  river  Tom  on  which  it  stands,  and  is  a  prosperous  place  with  about 
twenty  thousand  inhabitants. 

"  As  at  Irkutsk,  there  are  many  wealthy  merchants  in  the  city,  and  also 
a  fair  number  of  citizens  who  have  made  fortunes  by  mining  for  gold. 
The  houses  are  spacious  and  well-built,  and  there  is  a  large  'gymnasium.' 

\ 


390  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

or  high-school,  for  boys,  and  an  'institute,'  or  high-school,  for  girls.  Many 
private  teachers  find  employment  in  rich  families  who  prefer  educating 
their  children  at  home.  Tomsk  may  be  regarded  as  the  most  important 
place  in  Siberia  next  to  Irkutsk. 

"There  is  a  line  of  water  communication  between  Tomsk  and  Tumen, 
a  thousand  miles  to  the  westward,  but  of  course  it  is  only  available  in 
summer.  Fifteen  or  twenty  steamboats  are  engaged  in  the  traffic;  they 
descend  the  Tom  to  the  Ob,  and  the  Ob  to  the  Irtish,  which  they  ascend 
to  the  Tobol.  Then  they  follow  the  Tobol  to  the  Tura,  and  the  Tura  to 
Tumen.  "With  barges  in  tow,  the  journey  occupies  twelve  days ;  without 
them  it  is  made  in  a  week.  Travellers  are  so  few  that  it  does  not  pay  to 
run  boats  for  passengers  alone,  and  all  the  boats  in  use  when  I  was  there 
were  mainly  for  freight  purposes,  and  had  limited  space  for  passengers. 
If  you  look  at  the  map  of  Siberia,  you  will  see  that  it  possesses  an  excel- 
lent system  of  water  communication. 

"  The  only  navigation  of  the  Tom  that  I  saw  was  by  a  native  who  had 
fallen  through  a  hole  in  the  ice  and  just  crawled  out.  He  stood  dripping 
on  the  edge  for  a  moment,  as  though  uncertain  what  to  do;  then,  evi- 
dently realizing  his  danger,  he  sprang  on  his  sledge  and  rode  away,  to 
reach  home  before  he  was  frozen  solid. 

"At  the  suggestion  of  my  companion  we  decided  to  go  to  Barnaool, 
which  lies  about  three  hundred  miles  south  of  the  main  road,  and  is  the 
centre  of  the  Russian  mining  region  of  the  Altai  Mountains.  We  re- 
mained a  day  at  Tomsk,  in  order  to  see  the  Governor  and  obtain  his  per- 
mission to  leave  our  route,  which  was  readily  granted. 

"We  started  in  the  evening,  and  forty -four  hours  later  drove  into 
Barnaool  and  alighted  at  the  hotel.  An  officer  who  left  Tomsk  a  few 
hours  in  advance  of  us,  kindly  notified  the  station-masters  of  our  approach, 
and  thus  caused  them  to  have  horses  in  readiness.  If  he  had  not  done  so 
we  should  have  been  seriously  delayed,  as  the  regulations  require  only 
three  troikas  to  be  kept  at  the  stations  on  the  side  road,  while  ten  are 
maintained  along  the  great  route.  For  the  last  part  of  the  way  the  driv- 
ers took  us  to  houses  of  their  friends  instead  of  going  to  the  post-stations. 
The  peasants  through  Siberia  have  a  good  many  horses,  and  are  glad  to 
earn  money  in  this  way  by  transporting  travellers. 

"Barnaool  is  a  prosperous  town,  depending  partly  upon  the  gold-min- 
ing interest,  and  partly  upon  trade  with  the  Kirghese  and  other  people  of 
Central  Asia.  It  has  a  Club,  a  Geographical  Society,  a  large  and  interest- 
ing museum,  together  with  smelting-works,  factories,  and  machine-shops 
connected  with  the  mining  interests.     Social  conversation  has  a  good  deal 


THE   FIRST  AMERICAN   IN   BARNAOOL. 


391 


to  do  with  gold  and  silver  and  other  precious  tilings,  and  in  summer  many 
of  the  officials  are  absent  at  the  mining  establishments  in  the  mountains. 
The  society  is  similar  to  that  of  Irkutsk,  and  fully  as  accomplished  and 
hospitable.  They  told  me  I  was  the  first  American  that  had  ever  been  in 
Barnaool,  and  I  was  most  heartily  welcomed  and  made  to  feel  at  home. 

"  One  day  a  gentleman  invited  me  to  call  at  his  house,  and  said  his 
daughters  were  under  the  impression  that  Americans  were  black.  '  I  will 
not  undeceive  them,'  said  he,  '  and  if  they  appear  astonished  when  they 
see  you,  you  will  understand  it.' 

"  When  I  called  at  the  house  and  was  presented  to  the  family,  I  was 
immediately  surrounded  by  three  or  four  little  girls,  and  they  looked  with 


SUMMER    VIEW    NEAR    BARNAOOL. 


great  curiosity  at  my  face.  Finally  one  of  them  sidled  up  to  her  mother 
and  said  something,  of  which  I  caught  the  words,  '  Nee  chorney '  ("  Not 
black  ")." 

After  Frank  and  Fred  had  laughed  over  this  little  anecdote,  their  in- 
formant explained  that  the  impression  that  Americans  were  black  was  not 
confined  to  the  family  of  this  gentleman  at  the  foot  of  the  Altai  Mount- 
ains. Pie  said  he  had  been  told  of  it  on  several  occasions,  not  only  in  Si- 
beria but  in  European  Russia ;  but  it  was  almost  always  confined  to  the 


392  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

lower  class  of  people,  or  to  children  who  had  received  their  information 
from  servants. 

"  I  had  an  odd  experience  of  this  impression  about  our  national  color  a 
few  years  ago,"  said  Doctor  Bronson.  "  It  was  in  a  small  city  of  Austria 
where  strangers  do  not  often  penetrate,  and  our  countrymen  are  not  as 
well  known  as  in  Vienna  and  Paris. 

"  I  was  making  a  purchase  in  a  shop,  and  while  chatting  with  the  sales- 
woman she  asked  my  nationality.  I  told  her  I  was  an  American.  She 
shook  her  head  doubtingly,  and  said  she  thought  I  must  be  an  English- 
man, as  I '  didn't  look  like  an  American.' 

"  '  Why  don't  I  look  like  an  American  ?'  I  asked. 

" '  There  was  an  American  gentleman  here  a  few  months  ago,'  said  she, 
'  and  he  was  just  as  black  as  your  hat.' 

"I  didn't  follow  the  topic  further,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "but  con- 
cluded to  let  her  have  her  own  opinion  about  my  national  complexion." 

"  One  of  the  most  interesting  things  I  saw  at  Barnaool,"  said  Mr. 
liegeman,  resuming  the  subject  of  conversation,  "  was  the  Government 
Museum.  I  spent  the  greater  part  of  a  day  there,  and  only  had  time 
to  glance  over  the  admirable  collection.  There  is  a  mining  department 
which  contains  models  of  all  the  machinery  used  in  gold-mining,  and  in 
many  instances  the  machines  themselves.  Some  of  the  machines  are 
nearly  a  hundred  years  old,  and  almost  identical  with  those  in  use  to-day. 
There  is  a  letter  from  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  bearing  her  autograph,  giv- 
ing directions  about  the  working  of  the  mines  in  her  time ;  it  is  kept  in 
an  ivory  box  on  the  table  around  which  the  Mining  Board  holds  its  ses- 
sions. The  first  discoveries  of  precious  metals  in  the  Altai  region  were 
made  by  one  of  the  Demidoffs,  who  was  sent  there  by  Peter  the  Great, 
A  monument  in  the  public  square  of  Barnaool  records  his  services  and 
keeps  his  memory  green. 

"  There  are  models  of  mines  similar  to  those  in  the  Mining  School  at 
St.  Petersburg,  so  that  the  student  can  see  what  kind  of  work  is  before 
him.  They  showed  me  a  steam-engine  which  is  said  to  have  been  made 
at  Barnaool  in  1764,  for  the  purpose  of  blowing  the  furnaces;  the  direc- 
tor of  the  museum  claimed  that  it  was  on  the  principle  adopted  by  James 
Watt  in  1765,  and  therefore,  he  argued,  the  credit  of  the  improvement 
upon  the  old  engine  of  Newcomen  should  be  given  to  Siberia  rather  than 
to  Scotland. 

"Very  interesting  was  the  collection  of  natural  history,  which  included 
the  skins  of  two  enormous  tigers  killed  a  few  years  before  in  one  of  the 
Southern  districts  of  Western   Siberia.     Both  these  tigers  had  histories, 


A   BATTLE   WITH   A  TIGER. 


393 


and  were  supposed  to  be  murderers ;  one  of  them  fell  after  a  long  fight  in 
which  he  killed  one  of  his  assailants  and  wounded  two  others.  The  other 
tiger  had  sprung  upon  a  man  who  was  riding  one  horse  and  leading  an- 
other; the  man  escaped  by  leaving  the  led  horse  for  the  tiger  to  devour. 
He  rode  to  the  nearest  village  where  he  could  obtain  weapons  and  assist- 
ance, and  then  returned  to  the  locality  of  the  attack.  Carefully  creeping 
through  the  tall  grass,  he  found  the  tiger  busy  over  his  meal ;  every  few 


ATTACKED   BY    A    TIGKK. 


moments  he  raised  his  head  and  paused  to  listen  for  the  sound  of  ap- 
proaching footsteps,  but  so  cautiously  did  the  hunter  proceed  that  he  was 
not  heard. 

"  He  managed  to  get  within  ten  yards  of  the  ferocious  beast,  and  then 


394 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


by  a  well-directed  shot  stretched  him  on  the  ground.  The  fame  lie  ob- 
tained for  his  prowess,  and  the  money  from  the  sale  of  the  skin  to  the 
museum,  compensated  him  for  the  loss  of  the  horse,  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  he  ran  a  great  risk  in  searching  for  the  tiger  as  he  did. 


BEARCOOTS    AND    WOLTES. 


"There  were  in  the  museum  some  fine  specimens  (stuffed)  of  the  bear- 
coot,  an  enormous  eagle  of  the  Altai  Mountains.  It  is  considerably  larger 
than  the  American  eagle,  and  strong  enough  to  kill  easily  a  deer  or  a  wolf. 
The  Kirghese  tame  these  eagles  and  employ  them  for  hunting  purposes, 
just  as  hawks  were  employed  in  England  centuries  ago.  A  bearcoot  will 
swoop  down  upon  a  full-grown  deer  and  kill  him  in  a  few  minutes;  a 
deer  running  at  full  speed  can  be  overtaken  by  a  bearcoot  in  a  course  of 


POISONING  A   BEARCOOT. 


395 


little  more  than  a  mile,  when  he  has  the  advantage  of  fully  a  mile  at  the 
start. 

"Sometimes  when  a  pack  of  wolves  has  run  down  a  deer  and  killed 
it,  a  pair  of  bearcoots  will  appear  and  take  possession  of  the  game.  Two 
bearcoots  are  a  match  for  a  dozen  wolves,  and  the  latter  acknowledge  their 
inferiority  by  getting  out  of  the  way  immediately. 

"  Some  experiments  on  the  power  of  the  bearcoot  to  resist  poison  were 
made  at  Barnaool  shortly  before  my  visit.     Half  a  grain  of  curara  (deadly 


if 

ill! 


^^^^^EggjigS^i 


THE   STEPPE    IN    SUMMER. 


poison  from  Brazil)  had  no  effect  beyond  increasing  the  bird's  appetite. 
Four  grains  of  strychnine  caused  his  feathers  to  tremble  fifteen  minutes 
after  swallowing  the  stuff,  and  five  hours  later  threw  him  into  convulsions 
from  which  he  recovered  next  day.  A  week  later  seven  grains  of  curara 
had  no  effect  upon  him  for  two  days  ;  then  he  went  into  convulsions,  which 
lasted  several  hours  and  ended  with  his  death. 

"But  we  are  staying  too  long  at  Barnaool,  and  must  go  to  the  road 
again.  From  Barnaool  we  went  northward  and  westward  to  Tumen  over 
the  great  Baraba  Steppe ;  it  is  but  a  steppe  from  one  place  to  the  other, 


396  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

but  the  distance  is  a  thousand  miles,  and  we  were  a  week  in  making  it. 
We  were  caught  in  a  bouran,  or  storm,  anal  ago  us  to  the  Texas  norther  or 
the  bora  of  Trieste.  The  wind  blew  violently,  the  snow  whirled  in  blind- 
ing masses ;  the  road  was  so  buried  that  several  times  we  lost  our  way,  and 
finally  concluded  it  safest  to  wait  at  a  station  till  the  storm  was  over. 
Happily  we  were  not  long  delayed. 

"  In  summer  these  bourans  or  ouragans  (a  word  which  is  probably 
of  the  same  origin  as  hurricane)  are  sometimes  so  severe  that  they  sweep 
diy  the  bed  of  a  small  river  in  a  few  minutes,  and  create  large  clouds  of 
dust  as  they  pass  over  the  land.  The  one  we  encountered  was  from  the 
south,  and  therefore  warm.  A  northern  bouran  in  winter  is  something  ter- 
rific, as  the  thermometer  goes  very  low  and  the  intense  cold  added  to  the 
wind  is  destructive  to  animal  life.  Men  and  horses  have  been  lost  in  these 
bourans,  and  I  was  cautioned  not  to  venture  to  face  them  if  I  could  avoid 
doing  so. 

"  Many  Tartars  live  on  the  Baraba  Steppe,  but  we  saw  few  of  them, 
as  we  changed  horses  at  the  houses  of  the  Bussian  peasants.  There  was 
formerly  a  very  small  population  of  Eussians  on  the  steppe  between  Tu- 
men  and  Tomsk;  the  Governor-general  of  Siberia  persuaded  Catherine 
the  Great  to  give  him  all  the  conscripts  of  a  levy  instead  of  sending  them 
to  the  army.  He  settled  them  with  their  families  in  villages  along  the 
route  across  the  steppe,  and  the  present  population  consists  of  the  de- 
scendants of  these  people,  together  with  exiles  and  voluntary  emigrants  of 
the  present  century. 

"  Grain  is  produced  in  abundance  on  the  steppe.  Wheat,  rye,  and  oats 
are  often  as  low  as  ten  or  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  as  there  is  no  market  for 
produce  beyond  what  can  be  sold  to  travellers.  A  railway  is  one  of  the 
hopes  of  the  future,  and  when  it  comes  the  steppe  will  be  prosperous.  A 
great  deal  of  hemp  and  flax  is  raised  there ;  I  bought  about  sixty  feet  of 
half-inch  rope  for  thirty  cents  at  one  station,  and  afterwards  learned  that  I 
paid  too  much.  Our  harness  was  constantly  breaking,  and  every  few  days 
it  was  necessary  to  buy  a  quantity  of  rope  for  purposes  of  repair.  A  Eus- 
sian mujik  will  perform  wonders  of  harness  -  mending  if  you  give  him 
plenty  of  rope. 

"  I  will  not  weary  you  with  describing  in  detail  the  rest  of  the  long 
sleigh-ride.  Through  Tumen  we  went  without  delay,  and  from  that  place 
to  Ekaterineburg  we  had  no  incident  of  consequence.  At  Ekaterineburg 
we  stopped  a  day,  and  passed  several  hours  among  the  shops  devoted  to 
the  sale  of  semi-precious  stones,  which  are  cut  into  all  sorts  of  fantastic 
shapes.     The  town  is  as  famous  for  these  things  as  is  Cologne  for  the  per- 


THE   GOVERNMENT   LAPIDARY  WORKS  AT   EKATER1NEBURG. 


397 


SPECIMEN    OF   ROCK-CRYSTAL. 


fumed  spirit  that  bears  its  name,  Naples  for  coral,  or  Benares  for  brass- 
ware.     More  than  a  thousand  workmen  are  engaged  by  private  employers 
or  by  the  Government  in  this  industry.     The  Granilnoi  Fabric,  or  Gov- 
ernment   Lapidary   Establishment, 
was  closed  at  the  time  of  my  visit, 
which  happened  during  Christmas 
week.      I  understand  it  has  since 
been  sold,  and  is  now  in   private 
hands. 

"  Itinerant  dealers  in  the  streets 
offer  the  cut  crystals  to  strangers, 
and  the  waiters  at  the  hotels  have 
stocks  of  them  for  sale.  The  col- 
lections at  the  dealers  are  a  bewil- 
dering array  of  amethyst,  beryl, 
topaz,  tourmaline,  chalcedony,  jas- 
per, aquamarine,  malachite,  quartz,  and  other  stones.  There  are  seals,  pa- 
per-weights, beads,  vases,  statuettes,  brooches,  buttons,  charms,  and  an 
endless  variety  of  ornamental  things. 

"  There  were  imitations  of  leaves,  flowers,  and  grapes  tastefully  ar- 
ranged together,  and  formed  of  differently  colored  stones ;  there  were  min- 
iature caves  and  grottos  in  which 
the  stones  were  artistically  grouped; 
and  there  were  busts  of  the  Emper- 
or of  Russia  and  other  high  person- 
ages in  the  Empire,  together  with 
busts  of  the  reigning  sovereigns  of 
Europe.  Learning  that  I  was  an 
American,  the  proprietor  of  one 
establishment  showed  me  a  half- 
finished  bust  of  President  Lincoln 
cut  in  topaz  and  about  six  inches 
high. 

"  "We  left  Ekaterineburg  one 
evening,  and  about  midnight  passed 
the  ridge  of  the  LTral  Mountains  and 
entered  European  Russia.  The  Urals  at  this  point  are  a  succession  of  low 
hills  covered  with  fir-trees,  and  as  you  look  at  the  range  from  Ekaterine- 
burg you  would  not  suspect  you  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  mountains. 
North  and  south  of  this  point  the  mountains  become  more  steep,  but  they 


MONOMENT  AT  THE  BOUNDARY 


398 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


nowhere  attain  to  great  heights. 
All  this  part  of  the  Urals  is  rich 
in  minerals;  there  are  extensive 
mines  of  iron,  copper,  and  gold, 
those  of  iron  being  of  the  great- 
est, and  the  gold-mines  of  the  least 
importance. 

"A  very  large  part  of  all  the 
iron  used  in  Russia  comes  from 
the  Urals,  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  copper.  The  copper-money 
of  the  Empire  is  coined  at  the  Moneta  Fabric,  or  mint,  at  Ekaterinebnrg. 
and  from  an  immense  foundery  a  few  miles  away  comes  the  Russian  sheet- 
iron  which  is  so  popular  in  America  for  the  manufacture  of  parlor  stoves 
and  stove-pipe.      The  Urals   contain  the  only  mines  where   malachite  is 


WESTERN    SLOPE    OF    THE    URAL    MOUNTAINS. 


DOWN   THE   WESTERN  SLOPE   OF  THE   URALS.  399 

found  in  quantities  of  any  consequence,  and  when  you  look  at  a  piece  of 
this  beautiful  oxide  of  copper  you  can  be  almost  absolutely  certain  that  it 
came  from  the  neighborhood  of  Ekaterineburg.  A  mass  of  malachite 
weighing  more  than  four  hundred  tons  was  found  there  about  the  middle 
of  the  present  century,  the  largest  single  piece  ever  discovered. 

"At  the  boundary  between  European  and  Asiatic  Russia  there  is  a 
stone  monument  with  the  word  EUROPE  on  one  side  and  ASIA  on 
the  other.  It  is  only  seventeen  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
and  was  erected  to  commemorate  the  visit  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  I. 
to  his  Siberian  dominions.  I  stepped  from  the  sleigh  and  stood  for  a 
few  moments  with  a  foot  in  either  continent,  but  though  I  made  careful 
observation  I  could  not  discover  any  difference  between  the  soil,  climate, 
productions,  manners,  customs,  or  social  conditions  of  the  Occident  and 
Orient  of  the  Old  World. 

"  Down  the  Western  slope  of  the  Urals  we  drove  as  fast  as  our  horses 
could  carry  us,  making  brief  halts  to  change  horses  at  the  stations,  jumping 
oukhabas  that  threatened  to  shake  us  and  our  vehicles  to  pieces,  repelling 
the  advances  of  beggars  that  solicited  us  at  every  stopping-place,  riding 
sometimes  for  many  miles  at  a  time  between  double  rows  of  birch-trees 
which  the  Government  has  planted  to  mark  the  roads  and  prevent  the 
snow  from  drifting,  and  now  and  then  coming  temporarily  to  grief  through 
the  breaking;  of  our  harness.  We  found  the  stations  more  numerous  and 
more  commodious  than  in  Asiatic  Russia,  the  country  more  densely  peo- 
pled, and  as  the  days  of  fasting  had  given  way  to  days  of  feasting,  we 
found  an  abundance  of  provisions  wherever  we  stopped.  We  carried  now 
only  our  tea  and  sugar,  as  everything  else  was  easy  to  procure. 

"We  passed  through  Perm  at  night  and  in  a  snow-storm,  and  my  rec- 
ollections of  the  place  are  consequently  few.  From  Kazan  my  road  lay 
along  the  frozen  surface  of  the  Volga  to  Nijni  Novgorod,  where  the  sleigh- 
ride  was  to  terminate. 

"  Sometimes  the  sleigh  was  left  on  the  ice  of  the  river  while  the  driv- 
ers went  to  the  station  on  the  bank  to  change  horses,  and  sometimes  it  was 
driven  up  the  sloping  road  and  then  down  again.  Going  up  was  all  right, 
but  descending  was  occasionally  perilous. 

"  The  sleigh  manifested  a  tendency  to  go  faster  than  the  horses ;  there 
was  usually  no  protecting  wall  or  rail  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  slope,  and 
more  than  once  we  narrowly  escaped  being  pitched  clown  a  steep  cliff  of 
frozen  earth  to  the  solid  ice  fifty  or  a  hundred  feet  below.  At  such  times 
the  way  of  safety  lay  in  forcing  the  horses  ahead,  in  the  hope  that  they 
would  overcome  the  sideline;  motion  of  the  sleigh.     As  there  was  a  chance 


400 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


that  they  might  stumble,  and  throw  horses,  sleigh,  passengers,  baggage,  and 
driver  all  in  a  heap,  the  alternative  was  nearly  as  bad  as  the  preliminary 
danger. 

"  On  the  6th  of  January  we  passed  several  places  where  baptizings 
through  the  ice  were  in  progress.    This  is  one  of  the  days  that  the  Church 


St 


DESCENDING    A    HILLSIDE    ROAD. 


conseci-ates  to  baptismal  ceremonies,  and  throughout  the  Empire  many 
thousands  of  devout  worshippers  are  plunged  into  the  icy  water.  We  did 
not  stop  to  witness  the  ceremony,  but  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  priest  reading 
from  a  book,  while  another  was  holding  by  the  hands  a  man  whose  head 
just  rose  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  As  fast  as  the  baptized  ones 
emerged  from  the  hole  through  the  ice  they  ran  rapidly  to  the  village,  a 
short  distance  away. 


A  LONG   SLEIGH-RIDE. 


401 


"  There  at  last  are  the  domes  of  Nijni  Novgorod,  and  there  I  say  fare- 
well to  my  sleigh. 

"I  have  passed  two  hundred  and  nine  stations,  with  as  many  changes 


BAPTIZING    THROUGH    THE    ICE. 


of  horses  and  drivers.  More  than  seven  hundred  horses  have  been  attached 
to  my  sleigh,  and  drawn  me  over  a  road  of  all  degrees  of  goodness  and 
badness.  In  forty  days  from  Irkutsk  I  have  spent  sixteen  in  the  towns 
and  villages  on  the  way.  I  have  slept  twenty-six  nights  in  my  sleigh,  with 
the  thermometer  varying  all  the  .way  from  35°  above  zero  to  i±°  below, 
and  have  passed  through  four  severe  storms  and  perhaps  a  dozen  small 
ones. 

"  Including  the  detour  to  Barnaool,  my  sleigh-ride  was  thirty-six  hun- 
dred miles  long.  From  Stratensk  around  by  Kiachta  to  Irkutsk  I  trav- 
elled about  fourteen  hundred  miles  in  wheeled  vehicles,  so  that  altogether 
my  land  journey  from  the  steamboat  at  Stratensk  to  the  railway  at  jSTi jni 
covers  a  distance  of  five  thousand  miles. 

"And  now,"  said  Mr.  Liegeman,  in  conclusion,  "if  you  want  to  cross 
Siberia  you  can  do  it  more  easily  than  when  I  made  the  journey.     From 

26 


402 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


Perm,  which  you  can  reach  by  steamboat  in  summer,  there  is  a  railway  to 
Ekaterineburg,  and  it  will  shortly  be  finished  to  Tumen,  if  it  is  not  al- 
ready.* From  Tumen  take  a  steamboat  to  Tomsk,  if  you  don't  mind 
roughing  it  a  little,  and  from  Tomsk  your  land  journey  need  nut  be  terri- 


7    f 


ULAA^ 


£515       H 


END    OF    THE    SLEICH-R1DE. 


tying.  You  can  easily  make  out  the  rest  of  the  route  by  taking  my  own 
in  reverse.  Whether  you  descend  the  Amoor  or  cross  the  Desert  of  Gobi 
to  Peking,  you  will  have  enough  of  novelty  to  compensate  you  for  the 
fatigue." 

The  youths  thanked  Mr.  liegeman  most  heartily  for  the  entertaining 
account  he  had  given  them  of  his  journey  through  Siberia.  Doctor  Bron- 
son  added  his  acknowledgment  to  that  of  the  youths,  and  the  thoughts  of 
the  party  were  again  turned  to  what  was  occurring  around  them. 


*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  author  has  received  a  letter  from  M.  Nicolai  Ostrow- 
ski,  Director  of  the  Ural  Railway,  which  says,  "  Since  October  1,  1878,  Perm  and  Ekater- 
ineburg have  been  united  by  the  Ural  Railway.  Siuce  January  1,  1886,  trains  have  been 
running  regularly  betweeu  Ekaterineburg  and  Tumen.  A  line  is  under  construction  from 
Samara  to  Ufa.  which  will  probably  be  extended  to  Ekaterineburg  or  Teheliabinsk,  to 
form  a  direct  line  iu  the  direction  of  Omsk,  the  capital  of  Occidental  Siberia." 


A  RECEPTION   CEREMONY.  403 


CHAPTER  XX. 

DOWN  THE  VOLGA  AGAIN.— RUSSIAN  RECEPTION  CEREMONY.— SIMBIRSK,  SAMARA, 
AND  SARATOV.— GERMAN  SETTLERS  ON  THE  VOLGA.— DON  COSSACKS.— ASTRA- 
CHAN.— CURIOUS  POPULATION.— VOYAGE  ON  THE  CASPIAN  SEA.— THE  CASPIAN 
PETROLEUM  REGION.— TANK-STEAMERS.— INTERESTING  FACTS  AND  FIGURES 
OF  THE  NEW  PETROLIA.— PRESENT  PRODUCT  OF  THE  BAKU  OIL-FIELDS.— EX- 
CURSION TO  BALAKHANI,  AND  VISIT  TO  THE  OIL-WELLS.— TEMPLES  OF  THE 
FIRE-WORSHIPPERS. —  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  CASPIAN  PETROLEUM  REGION.— 
MARCO  POLO  AND  OTHER  AUTHORITIES. 

WHILE  our  friends  were  listening  to  Mr.  liegeman's  account  of  the 
journey  through  Siberia,  the  boat  was  continuing  steadily  on  her 
course  down  the  Volga.  One  of  her  passengers  was  a  Russian  count  on 
the  way  to  his  estate,  from  which  he  had  been  absent  for  nearly  two  years. 
He  had  notified  his  people  of  his  coming,  and  when  the  steamer  stopped 
at  the  village  where  he  was  to  land,  there  was  quite  an  assemblage  ready  to 
meet  him. 

Doctor  Bronson  ascertained  that  they  would  remain  at  the  landing  an 
hour  or  more,  as  there  was  a  considerable  amount  of  freight  to  he  put  on 
shore.  The  party  prepared  to  spend  the  time  on  land,  and  quite  unexpect- 
edly Frank  and  Fred  were  treated  to  a  curious  and  interesting  spectacle. 
It  was  the  welcome  of  the  count  by  his  people,  in  accordance  with  Rus- 
sian custom.  . 

As  he  ascended  the  bank  to  the  village,  he  was  met  by  a  procession  of 
men,  women,  and  children.  It  was  headed  by  four  venerable  men  witli 
long,  flowing  beards,  and  dressed  in  the  sheepskin  coats  with  which  we 
have  been  made  familiar.  One  of  the  men  in  front  carried  a  dish  on 
which  was  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  his  comrade  had  another  dish  filled  with 
salt.  One  man  of  the  second  couple  carried  a  jug  or  pitcher  of  water. 
The  Doctor  explained  to  the  youths  that  the  presentation  of  bread,  salt, 
and  water  was  a  ceremonial  of  Russian  hospitality  of  very  ancient  date. 

The  men  bowed  low  as  they  approached  the  count;  on  his  part  he 
urged  them  to  stand  upright  and  regard  him  as  their  friend.  They  halted 
directly  in  front  of  him,  and  then  the  bearer  of  the  bread  spoke  in  dig- 
nified tones  as  follows  : 


404 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"  We  come,  most  noble  master,  to  give  the  welcome  of  our  village,  and 
present  yon  sucli  food  as  we  can  offer,  according  to  the  ancient  custom  of 
our  country." 

In  a  few  kindly  words  the  count  thanked  them  for  their  hospitality, 
and  wished  that  their  lives  would  be  prosperous  and  happy.  Then  he  cut 
a  slice  out  of  the  loaf  of  bread  and  ate  it,  after  dipping  it  in  the  salt.  Next 
he  drank  a  glass  of  the  water,  pouring  it  from  the  pitcher  with  his  own 


OFFERING    OF   THE    VILLAGERS. 


hands.  When  he  had  finished  he  again  thanked  the  men  for  their  hospi- 
tality, and  asked  them  to  give  his  good  wishes  to  all  the  people.  This  ended 
the  ceremony,  and  the  count  was  then  at  liberty  to  enter  the  carriage  that 
stood  waiting,  and  ride  to  his  house,  some  distance  back  from  the  river. 

Doctor  BroDSon  explained  that  bread  and  salt  have  a  prominent  place 
in  Russian  ceremonials,  not  only  of  welcome,  but  at  weddings  and  on  other 
occasions.  The  bread  is  invariably  the  rye  or  black  bread  of  the  country, 
and  the  guest  to  whom  it  is  offered  would  show  great  rudeness  if  he  dc- 


SIMBIRSK,  SAMARA,  AND   SARATOV.  405 

clinecl  to  partake  of  it.  A  knife  lies  on  the  top  of  the  loaf ;  the  guest  him- 
self cuts  the  loaf,  and  must  be  careful  to  dip  the  slice  in  the  salt  before 
placing  it  in  his  mouth. 

In  their  descent  of  the  Yolga,  our  friends  passed  a  succession  of  vil- 
lages on  either  bank,  and  occasionally  a  town  or  city  of  importance.  The 
day  after  leaving  Kazan  they  stopped  at  Simbirsk,  the  capital  of  the  prov- 
ince of  the  same  name,  and  the  centre  of  a  considerable  trade.  It  is  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  has  a  population  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
thousand. 

About  a  hundred  miles  farther  down  the  Volga  is  Samara,  which  gen- 
erally resembles  Simbirsk,  but  is  larger,  and  possesses  a  more  extensive 
commerce.  A  railway  extends  from  Samara  to  Orenburg,  on  the  frontier 
of  Siberia.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Volga  Samara  is  connected  with  the 
railway  system  which  has  its  centre  at  Moscow.  With  railway  and  river 
to  develop  its  commerce,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  place  is  prosperous, 
and  has  grown  rapidly  since  the  middle  of  the  century. 

Mr.  liegeman  told  the  youths  that  many  Swiss  and  Germans  were  set- 
tled along  this  part  of  the  Volga,  and  he  pointed  out  some  of  their  villages 
as  the  boat  steamed  on  her  course.  The  Government  allows  them  perfect 
freedom  in  religious  matters,  and  they  have  an  excellent  system  of  schools 
which  they  manage  at  their  own  expense  and  in  their  own  way.  In  other 
respects  they  are  under  the  laws  of  the  Empire,  and  their  industry  and  en- 
terprise have  had  a  beneficial  effect  upon  their  Muscovite  neighbors.  The 
first  of  these  settlers  came  here  moi'e  than  a  hundred  years  ago  ;  their  de- 
scendants speak  both  German  and  Russian,  and  form  quite  an  important 
part  of  the  population. 

Larger  than  Simbirsk  and  Samara  rolled  into  one  is  Saratov,  about  a 
hundred  miles  below  the  city  we  have  just  described.  It  contains  nearly 
a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants ;  its  houses  are  well  built  and  spacious, 
and  its  streets  are  unusually  broad,  even  for  Russia.  Our  friends  took  a 
carriage-ride  through  the  city,  visited  several  of  its  sixteen  or  eighteen 
churches,  and  passed  an  hour  or  more  in  one  of  the  factories  devoted  to 
the  manufacture  of  leather  goods. 

Frank  and  Fred  thought  the  churches  were  fully  equal  to  those  of  any 
other  Russian  city  they  had  seen,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  most 
celebrated,  and  they  greatly  regretted  their  inability  to  make  a  fuller  in- 
spection of  the  place.  But  they  consoled  themselves  with  the  reflection 
that  they  had  seen  the  principal  cities  of  the  Empire,  and  the  smaller  ones 
could  not  offer  many  new  and  distinctive  features. 

In  the  province  of  Saratov  they  were  on  the  border  of  the  region  of 


406 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


the  Don  Cossacks,  and  at  some  of  the  landings  they  had  glimpses  of  this 
primitive  people.  Their  country  did  not  seem  to  be  well  cultivated,  and 
Doctor  Bronson  told  the  youths  that  the  Don  Cossacks  were  more  noted 
for  skill  in  horsemanship  than  for  patient  industry.  They  prefer  the 
raising  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses  to  the  labor  of  the  field,  and  though 
many  of  them  have  accumulated  considerable  wealth  they  have  little  in- 
clination for  luxurious  living. 

An  amusing  scene  at  one  of  the  landings  was  the  Cossack  method 
of  shoeing  an  ox.     Frank  thus  describes  it : 

"  The  poor  beast  was  flung  upon  his  side  and  firmly  held  down  by  half 
a  dozen  men,  while  his  legs  were  tied  together  in  a  bunch.     Then  he  was 

turned  upon  his  back,  so  that  his  feet 
were  uppermost,  giving  the  blacksmith 
an  excellent  opportunity  to  perform 
his  work.  The  blacksmith's  '  helper' 
sat  upon  the  animal's  head  to  keep  him 
from  rising  or  struggling  ;  the  unhappy 
ox  indicated  his  discomfort  and  alarm 
by  a  steady  moaning,  to  which  the  op- 
erators gave  not  the  least  attention. 

"  At  a  shop  in  one  of  the  villages 
we  bought  some  souvenirs.  Among 
them  was  a  whip  with  a  short  handle 
and  a  braided  lash,  with  a  flat  piece  of 
leather  at  the  end.  The  leather  flap  makes  a  great  noise  when  brought 
down  upon  a  horse's  sides,  but  does  not  seem  to  hurt  him  much  ;  crackers, 
like  those  on  American  and  English  whips,  seem  to  be  unknown  here, 
at  any  rate  we  did  not  see  any. 

"The  handle  of  the  whip  is  sometimes  utilized  as  the  sheath  of  a 
knife.  The  one  we  bought  contained  a  knife  with  a  long  blade,  and  re- 
minded us  of  the  sword-canes  of  more  civilized  countries." 

"We  stopped  at  Tsaritsin,"  said  Fred,  in  his  journal,  "and  had  a  short 
jam  on  shore.  At  this  point  the  Volga  is  only  forty  miles  from  the  river 
Don,  which  empties  into  the  Sea  of  Azof,  and  is  navigable,  in  time  of 
high  water,  about  eight  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth.  There  is  a  rail- 
way connecting  the  rivers,  and  also  a  canal ;  the  latter  is  much  longer  than 
the  railway,  and  was  made  by  utilizing  the  channels  of  some  little  streams 
tributary  to  the  rivers,  and  connecting  them  by  a  short  cut. 

"The  Don  is  connected  with  the  Dneiper  as  well  as  with  the  Volga; 
the  three  rivers  form  an  important  part  of  the  great  net-work  of  water 


SHUKINQ    AN     OX. 


AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  VOLGA. 


40  T 


communication  with  which  Russia  is  supplied.  The  Dneiper  enters  the 
Black  Sea  at  Kherson,  near  Odessa ;  next  to  the  Volga  it  is  the  largest 
river  of  European  Russia,  and  flows  through  a  fertile  country.  It  is  about 
twelve  hundred  miles  long,  and  its  navigation  was  formerly  much  ob- 
structed by  rapids  and  other  natural  obstacles.  Many  of  these  hinder- 
ances  have  been  removed  by  the  Government,  but  the  river  has  lost  some 
of  its  commercial  importance  since  the  railways  were  established. 

"  From  Tsaritsin  to  Astrachan  there,  is  not  much  of  interest,  as  the 
country  is  generally  low  and  flat,  and  the  towns  and  villages  are  few  in 
number.      Much  of  the  country  bordering  the  river  is  a 
marsh,  which  is  overflowed  at  the  periods  of  the  annual 
floods,  and  therefore  is  of  little  value  except  for  the  past- 
urage of  cattle. 

"As  we  approached  the  mouth  of  the  Volga  we  found 
the  river  divided  into  many  channels ;  in  this  respect  it 
resembles  the  Nile,  the  Ganges,  the  Mississippi,  and  other 
great  watercourses  of  the  globe.  On  one  of  these  chan- 
nels the  city  of  Astrachan  is  built.  It  is  not  on  the  main- 
land, but  on  an  island.  Another  channel  passes  not  far 
from  the  one  by  which  we  came,  and  maintains  a  parallel 
course  for  a  considerable  distance. 

"Astrachan  is  the  most  cosmopolitan  city  we  have  seen 
in  Russia,  even  more  so  than  Kazan.  The  character  of  its 
seventy  or  eighty  thousand  inhabitants  may  be  understood 
when  I  tell  you  that  it  lias  thirty-seven  Greek  churches, 
two  Roman  Catholic,  two  Armenian,  and.  one  Protestant, 
and.  is  the  seat  of  a  Greek  archbishop  and  an  Armenian 
bishop.  Then  it  has  an  Indian  temple,  fifteen  mosques, 
and  a  Chinese  pagoda.  It  has  a  botanical  garden,  an  eccle- 
siastical school,  schools  of  all  the  grades  peculiar  to  the  large  towns  of 
Russia,  a  naval  academy,  and  I  don't  know  how  many  other  institutions. 
Books  are  printed  here  in  Russian,  Tartar,  and  other  languages,  and  as 
you  walk  through  the  bazaars  your  ears  are  greeted  by  nearly  all  the 
tongues  of  Europe  and  Asia. 

"To  get  at  the  cosmopolitan  peculiarities  of  the  city  we  were  obliged 
to  go  through  narrow  and  dirty  streets,  which  somewhat  marred  the  pleas- 
ure of  our  visit.  In  this  respect  Astrachan  is  more  Oriental  than  Rus- 
sian ;  its  history  dates  beyond  the  time  of  the  Russian  occupation  of  the 
lower  Volga,  and  therefore  we  must  expect  it  to  have  Oriental  features  in 
preponderance. 


KNIFE  -  WHIP. 


408 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"In  commercial  matters  Astraclian  is  important,  as  it  stands  between 
Europe  and  Central  Asia,  and  exchanges  their  goods.  Great  quantities  of 
raw  and  embroidered  silks,  drugs,  rhubarb,  hides,  sheepskins,  tallow,  and 
other  Asiatic  products  come  here,  and  in  return  for  them  the  Russians 
dispose  of  cotton  and  other  manufactures  suited  to  the  wants  of  their 

Kirghese  and  Turcoman  subjects 
or  neighbors. 

"We  are  told  that  there  arc- 
more  than  a  hundred  manufactur- 
ing establishments  in  Astraclian. 
Vast  quantities  of  salt  are  made 
here  or  in  the  immediate  vicinity, 
and  the  fisheries  of  the  Volga  and 
the  Caspian  Sea,  which  is  only 
twenty  miles  away,  are  among  the 
most  important  in  the  world.  Un- 
fortunately the  harbor  is  so  much 
obstructed  by  sand  that  only  ves- 
sels of  light  draught  can  reach  it 
from  the  Caspian.  Since  the  open- 
ing of  the  railway  connecting  the 
Caspian  with  the  Black  Sea,  much 
of  the  commerce  which  formerly 
came  to  Astraclian  is  diverted  to 
the  new  route. 

"We  landed  from  the  steamer 
and  were  taken  to  a  hotel  which 
promised  very  poorly,  and  fully  sustained  its  promise.  But  any  lodging- 
was  better  than  none  at  all,  and  as  we  were  to  remain  only  long  enough 
to  get  away,  it  didn't  much  matter.  We  breakfasted  on  the  steamer  just 
before  leaving  it,  and  had  no  use  for  the  hotel  for  several  hours. 

"In  our  sight-seeing  we  went  to  a  Tartar  Tchan,  or  inn,  a  large  build- 
ins;  two  stories  hitch  and  built  around  a  court-yard,  in  accordance  with 
the  Tartar  custom.  The  court-yard  receives  wagons  and  horses,  while 
the  rooms  that  front  upon  it  are  rented  to  merchants  and  others  who 
desire  them.  The  master  of  the  place  will  supply  food  to  those  who 
expressly  ask  for  it,  and  pay  accordingly,  but  he  is  not  expected  to 
do  so. 

"  Travellers  pick  up  their  food  at  the  restaurants  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  either  bring  it  to  their  quarters  or  devour  it  at  the  place  of  purchase. 


ARMENIAN    BISHOP    OF    ASTRACHAN. 


PETROLEUM  TRADE  OF  ASTRACHAN. 


400 


A  corridor  runs  around  each  story  of  the  khan,  and  the  rooms  open  upon 
this  corridor. 

"  Under  one  of  the  stair-ways  there  is  a  room  for  the  Tartar  postilions 
who  care  for  the  horses  of  travellers.  With  their  round  caps,  loose  gar- 
ments, and  long  pipes  they  formed  a  picturesque  group  around  a  lire 


A    TARTAR    KHAN. 


where  one  of  their  number  was  watching  the  boiling  of  a  pot  which  prob- 
ably contained  their  dinner. 

"In  the  last  few  years  Astraehan  has  developed  cpiite  an  important 
trade  in  petroleum,  in  consequence  of  the  working  of  the  wells  at  Baku, 
on  the  western  shore  of  the  Caspian.  Steamers  and  sailing-vessels  bring  it 
here  in  immense  quantities,  and  from  Astraehan  it  is  shipped  by  the  Volga 
to  all  parts  of  Russia,  and  also  to  Germany  and  other  countries.  There 
are  several  machine-shops  for  the  repair  of  steamships,  steamboats,  and 
barges  engaged  in  the  oil  trade.  The  oil  business  of  the  Caspian  region 
is  growing  very  rapidly,  and  promises  to  make  a  serious  inroad  upon  the 
petroleum  industry  of  the  United  States. 

"  There  is  a  line  of  steamers  on  the  Caspian  Sea  for  the  transport  of 
petroleum ;  they  are  constructed  with  tanks  in  which  the  oil  is  carried  in 
bulk,  and  their  engines  are  run  by  petroleum  instead  of  coal.  Their  ac- 
commodations for  passengers  are  limited,  but  as  the  voyage  is  made  in  a 


410 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


couple  of  days  we  were  not  particular,  and  took  places  on  the  first  vessel 
that  offered. 

"  Owing  to  the  shallowness  of  the  lower  Yolga  the  oil-steamers,  except- 
ing some  of  the  smaller  ones,  do  not  come  to  Astrachan,  but  transfer  their 
cargoes  at  'Diavet  Foot1  (Nine  Feet),  which  is  so  called  from  its  depth 
of  water.  Diavet  Foot  is  eighty  miles  from  Astrachan,  and  on  a  shoal 
which  spreads  out  like  a  fan  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Volga.  A  small 
steamer  having  several  barges  in  tow  took  us  to  the  shoal,  where  we  were 


TARTAR    TOSTILIONS. 


transferred  to  the  Koran,  a  handsome  steamer  two  hundred  and  fifty-two 
feet  long  and  twentv-eight  feet  broad.  There  was  a  large  fleet  of  river- 
boats,  barges,  and  sea-steamers  at  Diavet  Foot,  and  we  watched  with  much 
interest  the  process  of  transferring  kerosene  from  the  tank-steamers  which 
had  brought  it  from  Baku  to  the  barges  for  conveyance  up  the  river." 

An  English  gentleman,  who  was  connected  with  the  petroleum  works 
at  "Baku,  kindly  gave  the  youths  the  following  information : 


OIL-STEAMERS   ON  THE   CASPIAN   SEA. 


411 


"There  are  nearly  a  hundred  steamers  on  the  Caspian  engaged  in  the 
oil  traffic.  They  are  of  iron  or  steel,  average  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  length  by  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  in  breadth,  and  carry  from 
seven  hundred  to  eight  hundred  tons  (two  hundred  thousand  to  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  gallons)  of  petroleum  in  their  tanks.  Tlieir  en- 
gines are  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  horse-power,  and  make  a  speed  of 


TARTAR    PALACES    IN    SOUTHERN    RUSSIA. 


ten  knots  an  hour;  they  use  petroleum  for  fuel,  and  it  is  estimated  that 
their  running  expenses  are  less  than  half  what  they  would  be  if  coal  were 
burned  instead  of  oil.  The  steamers  were  built  in  Sweden  or  .England, 
and  brought  through  from  St.  Petersburg  by  means  of  the  canals  connect- 
ing the  Volo;a  with  the  Neva.  Some  of  the  lamest  steamers  were  cut  in 
two  for  the  passage  of  the  canals,  the  sections  being  united  at  Astrachan 
or  Baku. 

"  The  oil-steamers  for  river  work  are  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  long;  they  are  fitted  with  tanks,  like  the  sea-steamers,  and  are 
powerful  enough  for  towing  tank-barges  in  addition  to  the  transport  of 
their  own  loads.  They  run  from  Diavet  Foot  to  Tsaritsin,  four  hundred 
miles  up  the  Volga,  the  first  point  where  there  is  railway  connection  to 
Western  Europe.  Some  of  them  proceed  to  Kazan,  Nijni  Novgorod,  and 
other  points  on  the  upper  Yolga,  and  also  through  the  canals  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, but  the  greater  part  of  them  land  tlieir  cargoes  at  Tsaritsin. 

""When  you  get  to  Baku  you  will  see  how  rapidly  the  loading  of  the 
steamers  is  performed.  When  a  steamer  is  ready  for  her  cargo,  an  eight- 
inch  pipe  pours  the  kerosene  into  her  tanks,  and  fills  her  in  about  four 


412 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


hours.  Then  she  starts  for  Diavet  Foot,  where  the  oil  is  pumped  into  the 
river  steamers  and  barges ;  she  fills  her  tanks  with  fresh  water,  partly  in 
order  to  ballast  her  properly,  and  partly  because  water  is  very  scarce  at 
Baku,  and  then  starts  on  her  return.  Five  or  six  days  make  a  round  trip, 
including  the  loading  and  unloading  at  either  end  of  the  route. 

"  At  Baku  the  water  is  pumped  into  reservoirs,  to  be  used  in  the  refin- 
eries or  for  irrigating  the  soil  in  the  vicinity  of  the  works,  and  then  the 


GYPSY    FAMILY    AT    ASTRACHAN. 


steamer  is  ready  for  her  load  again.  From  Tsaritsin  the  oil  is  carried  in 
tank-cars  similar  to  those  you  have  in  America.  I  can't  say  exactly  how 
many  tank-cars  are  in  use,  but  think  the  number  is  not  much  below  three 
thousand.  Twenty-five  cars  make  an  oil-train,  and  these  oil-trains  are  in 
constant  circulation  all  over  the  railways  of  Russia  and  Western  Europe.-' 

Frank  asked  if  the  enterprise  was  conducted  by  the  Government  or  by 
individuals. 

"It  is  in  the  hands  of  private  parties,"  said  the  gentleman, "  who  are 


RUSSIAN  STORAGE  DEPOTS  FOR  OIL. 


413 


AN    OIL-STEAMER    ON    THE    CASPIAN    SEA. 


generally  organized  into  companies.  The  leading  company  was  founded 
by  two  Swedes,  Nobel  Brothers,  who  have  spent  most  of  their  lives  in  Rus- 
sia, and  are  famous  for  their  ingenuity  and  enterprise.  The  petroleum  in- 
dustry of  Baku  was  practically  developed  by  them  ;  they  originated  the 
idea  of  transporting  the  Baku  petroleum  in  bulk,  and  the  first  tank-steam- 
er on  the  Caspian  was  built  by  them  in  1879,  according  to  the  plans  of 
the  elder  brother. 

"Bear  in  mind  that  the  Volga  is  frozen  for  four  months  in  the  year, 
at  the   very  time  when   kerosene  is  most  in  demand  for  light.      JNobel 


TANKS   AT    A    STORAGE    DETOT. 


Brothers  arranged  for  a  system  of  depots  throughout  Russia  and  Ger- 
many, where  oil  could  be  stored  in  summer  for  distribution  in  winter. 
The  largest  of  these  depots  is  at  Orel,  and  there  are  four  other  large  de- 
pots at  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  Warsaw,  and  Saratov. 


414 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


"  The  depot  at  Orel  can  receive  eighteen  million  gallons,  and  the  four 
other  large  depots  about  three  million  gallons  each.  The  smaller  depots, 
together  with  the  depot  at  Tsaritsin,  make  a  total  storage  capacity  of  be- 
tween fifty  and  sixty  million  gallons  of  petroleum  available  for  use  when 
the  Volga  is  frozen  and  traffic  suspended. 

"  All  this  was  done  before  the  completion  of  the  railway  between  the 
Casjnau  and  Black  seas.      The  line  from  Batoum,  on  the  Black  Sea,  by 


VIEW    IX    AN    OIL    REGION. 


way  of  Tiflis  to  Baku,  on  the  Caspian,  was  opened  in  1883,  and  immediate- 
ly about  two  hundred  tank-cars  were  set  to  carrying  oil  to  where  it  could 
be  loaded  into  steamers  for  transportation  to  the  ports  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean and  to  England.     A  pipe-line  similar  to  what  you  have  in  America 


COMPETITION   OF  RUSSIAN   AND  AMERICAN   PETROLEUM. 


415 


to  connect  your  oil  regions  with  the  seaboard,  will  probably  be  established 
before  long  between  Baku  and  Batoum  ;  the  oil  will  be  pumped  from 
Baku  to  the  crest  of  the  pass  through  the  Caucasus  Mountains,  and  from 
there  it  will  run  by  gravity  like  a  mountain  stream  down  to  the  shores  of 
the  Black  Sea.  There  it  can  be  loaded  into  tank-steamers,  or  placed  in 
barrels  for  distribution  wherever  it  can  find  a  market. 

"Perhaps  I  may  be  building  castles  in  the  air,"  said  the  gentleman, 
"since  I  am  not  of  your  nationality,  but  I  look  upon  the  European  mar- 
ket for  American  petroleum  as  doomed  to  destruction.  The  Baku  petro- 
leum has  driven  your  American  product  from  Russia,  and  is  rapidly  driv- 
ing it  from  the  markets  of  Germany,  France,  and  Austria.  We  think  it 
quite  ecpial  to  your  petroleum,  and 


in  some  respects  superior.  Ameri- 
can oilmen  claim  that  theirs  is  by 
far  the  better  article,  and  as  each 
side  can  bring  the  opinions  of  sci- 
entists to  prove  the  correctness  of 
its  claim,  the  question  resolves  itself 
into  one  of  cheapness  of  production 
and  transportation.  For  the  market 
of  Europe  and  Asia  we  think  we 
have  a  great  advantage  in  being 
nearer  to  it.  It  is  as  far  from  Ba- 
toum to  England  as  from  New  York, 
and  therefore  you  may  be  able  to 
supply  Great  Britain  with  petro- 
leum, by  reason  of  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation. 

"  Two  plans  are  under  considera- 
tion for  overcoming  the  disadvan- 
tages of  the  closing  of  the  Volga 
route  by  ice  for  one  -  third  of  the 
year.  Look  on  the  map  of  Russia 
and  see  the  position  of  Vladikavkaz 
at  the  foot  of  the  Caucasus  Mountain 


BITS    FOR    DRILLING    WELLS. 


The  railway  reaches  that  point, 
and  it  has  been  proposed  to  extend  it  to  a  connection  with  the  Baton  ni- 
Baku  line  at  Tiflis,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten  miles.  The  line 
would  be  very  costly,  as  it  must  run  through  the  Caucasus  range;  a 
longer  but  less  expensive  line  would  be  from  Vladikavkaz  to  Petrovsk, 
on  the  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  half  way  between  Baku  and  the  mouth 


416 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE    RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


of  the  Volga.     It  could  be  reached  in  a  day  by  the  tank-steamers  from 
Baku,  and  communication  is  open  for  the  entire  year. 

"  Since  either  of  these  lines  would  be  useful  for  strategic  purposes  as 
well  as  for  commerce,  it  is  probable 
that  one  or  both  of  them  will  be  built 
within  the  next  few  years.  They 
would  be  useful  for  the  supply  of 
Russia  and  Germany  in  the  winter 
season,  and  render  the  enormous 
storage  depots  less  necessary  than 
they  are  at  present. 

"  The  Baku  petroleum  is  utilized 
not  only  for  making  kerosene,  but 
for  the  manufactu 
oils  and  for  liquid  fuel  for  steam- 
ship, railway,  and  other  purposes. 
The  oil  refuse  is  burned  on  the 
steamer,  and  railways ;  for  the  last 
two  or  three  years  it  has  been  em- 
ployed by  the  Tsaritsin-Griazi  Bail- 


A   SPOl'TIXO   WELL. 


OIL-TANKS. 


417 


418  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

way  Company  in  its  locomotives,  where  it  lias  completely  taken  the  place 
of  coal.  It  is  the  only  fuel  used  by  the  Trans-Caucasian  railway  from 
Baku  to  Batoum  and  Poti,  and  wherever  it  has  been  tried  in  competi- 
tion with  coal  brought  from  great  distances,  it  has  been  adopted.  I 
wonder  you  don't  make  use  of  it  in  America." 

Doctor  Bronson  suggested  that  probably  the  reason  why  liquid  fuel 
had  not  taken  the  place  of  coal  in  America,  was  in  consequence  of  the  rela- 
tive prices  of  the  two  substances.  "In  Russia,"  said  he,  "coal  is  dear  ;  in 
America  it  is  cheap,  and  our  coal-fields  are  exhaustless.  Three  hundred 
thousand  tons  of  coal  have  been  carried  annually  from  England  to  the 
Black  Sea ;  it  retails  there  for  ten  or  twelve  dollars  a  ton,  which  would  be 
an  enormous  price  in  America.  Now  what  will  your  petroleum  fuel  cost 
at  Batoum  ?" 

"The  present  price,"  said  his  informant,  "is  twenty-six  English  shil- 
lings (nearly  seven  dollars)  a  ton.  Weight  for  weight,  it  is  cheaper  than 
coal ;  one  ton  of  it  will  make  as  much  steam  as  two  tons  of  coal,  and  thus 
you  see  there  is  an  enormous  saving  in  cost  of  fuel.  Then  add  the  saving 
in  wages  of  stokers,  the  additional  space  that  can  be  given  to  cargo,  and 
the  gain  in  cleanliness,  as  the  liquid  fuel  makes  neither  smoke  nor  cinders. 

"The  Russian  Government  is  making  experiments  at  Sebastopol  with 
a  view  to  adopting  astaki,  as  petroleum  refuse  is  called,  as  the  fuel  for  its 
men-of-war.  I  predict  that  as  fast  as  the  furnaces  can  be  changed  you  will 
see  all  steamers  on  the  Black  Sea  burning  the  new  substance  instead  of  the 
old.     Come  with  me  and  see  how  the  liquid  fuel  works." 

"  lie  led  the  way  to  the  engine-room  of  the  steamer,"  said  Frank,  in 
his  journal,  "  and  asked  the  engineer  to  show  us  how  the  machinery  was 
propelled. 

"The  process  is  exceedingly  simple.  Small  streams  of  petroleum  are 
caught  by  jets  of  steam  and  turned  into  vapor;  the  vapor  burns  beneath 
the  boilers  and  makes  the  steam,  and  that  is  all.  The  flow  of  steam  and 
oil  is  regulated  by  means  of  stopcocks,  and  steam  can  be  made  rapidly  or 
slowly  as  may  be  desired. 

"  Our  friend  told  us  that  a  fire  of  wood,  cotton-waste,  or  some  other 
combustible  is  used  to  get  up  steam  at  starting.  This  is  done  under  a 
small  boiler  distinct  from  the  main  ones,  and  it  supplies  steam  for  the 
'pulverizer,'  as  the  jietrolentn  furnace  is  called. 

"  When  steam  is  on  the  main  boilers  the  small  one  is  shut  off  and  the 
fire  beneath  it  is  extinguished.  Even  this  preliminary  fire  is  rendered  un- 
necessary by  a  newly  invented  furnace  in  which  a  quantity  of  hydro-carbon 
gas  is  kept  stored  and  in  readiness.     We  were  told  that  the  action  of  the 


ARRIVAL  AT   BAKU. 


419 


realizing 
entering 


pulverizer  is  so  simple  that  after  the  engineers  have  adjusted  the  flame  at 
starting  and  put  the  machinery  in  operation,  they  do  not  give  them  any 
attention  till  the  end  of  the  voyage.  One  stoker,  or  fireman,  is  sufficient 
to  watch  all  the  furnaces  of  a  ship  and  keep  them  properly  supplied  with 
astaki." 

A  good  many  additional  details  were  given  which  we  have  not  space  to 
present.  The  study  of  the  petroleum  question  occupied  the  attention  of 
the  youths  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  voy- 
age, and  almost  before 
it  they  were 
the  Bay  of 
Baku,  and  making  ready 
to  go  on  shore. 

Frank  and  Fred  were 
astonished  at  what  they 
saw  before  them.  Baku 
is  on  a  crescent -shaped 
bay,  and  for  a  distance 
of  seven  or  eight  miles 
along  its  shores  there  is 
a  fringe  of  buildings  on 
the  land,  and  a  fringe  of 
shipping  on  the  water. 
Thirty  or  forty  piers  jut 
from  the  land  into  the 
bay ;  some  of  the  piers 
were  vacant,  while  others 
had  each  from  three  to 
half  a  dozen  steamers  re- 
ceiving their  cargoes  or 
waiting  their  turns  to  be 

filled.  Not  less  than  fifty  steamers  were  in  port,  and  there  were  several 
hundred  sailing  craft  of  various  sizes  and  descriptions  riding  at  anchor  or 
tied  up  at  the  piers.  It  was  a  busy  scene — the  most  active  one  that  had 
greeted  their  eyes  since  leaving  the  fair  at  Nijni  Novgorod. 

They  landed  at  one  of  the  piers,  and  were  taken  to  a  comfortable  hotel 
facing  the  water,  and  not  far  away  from  it.  The  youths  observed  that 
the  population  was  a  cosmopolitan  one,  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  fair- 
grounds of  Nijni ;  Russians,  Armenians,  Turcomans,  Kirghese,  Persians, 


RKFINKUY    WITH    TANK    fill.- 


420  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

Greeks,  all  were  there  together  with  people  of  other  races  and  tribes  they 
-were  unable  to  classify.  The  streets  were  filled  with  carts  and  carriages 
in  great  number,  and  they  found  on  inquiry  that  almost  any  kind  of  vehicle 
they  desired  could  be  had  with  little  delay. 

Doctor  Bronson  and  his  young  friends  had  visited  the  petroleum  region 
of  their  own  country,  and  very  naturally  desired  to  see  its  formidable  rival. 


TARTAR    CAMEL -CART    AT    BAKU. 


They  learned  that  the  wells  were  eight  or  ten  miles  from  Baku,  and  as  it 
was  late  in  the  day  when  they  arrived,  their  visit  was  postponed  till  the  fol- 
lowing morning. 

Securing  a  competent  guide  they  engaged  a  carriage,  and  early  the  next 
day  left  the  hotel  for  the  interesting  excursion.  We  will  quote  Frank's 
account  of  what  they  saw  : 

"  We  found  the  road  by  no  means  the  best  in  the  world,"  said  the 
youth,  "  as  no  effort  is  made  to  keep  it  in  repair,  and  the  track  is  through 
a  desert.  On  our  right  as  we  left  Baku  is  the  Chorney  Gorod,  or  Black 
Town,  which  contains  the  refineries;  it  reminded  us  of  Pittsburg,  with 
its  many  chimneys  and  the  cloud  of  smoke  that  hung  over  it.  Then 
we  crossed  the  track  of  the  railway,  and  the  lines  of  pipe  that  supply  the 
refineries  with  oil.  Right  and  left  of  us  all  over  the  plain  there  are 
reservoirs  and  pools  of  petroleum ;  there  are  black  spots  which  indicate 
petroleum  springs,  and  white  spots  denoting  the  presence  of  salt  lakes. 
By-and-by  we  see  a  whole  forest  of  derricks,  which  tells  us  we  are  Hearing 
Balakhani,  the  centre  of  the  oil-wells. 

"  Passing  on  our  left  the  end  of  a  salt  lake  five  or  six  miles  long,  we 
enter  the  region  covered  by  these  derricks,  and  our  guide  takes  us  to  the 
Droojba  well,  which  spouted  a  stream  of  petroleum  three  hundred  feet 
high  when  it  was  opened.  Two  million  gallons  of  petroleum  were  thrown 
out  daily  for  a  fortnight  or  more  from  this  one  well,  and  two  months  after 


BANKRUPTCY   FEOM  "STRIKING  OIL.: 


421 


it  was  opened  it  delivered  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  gallons  daily. 
Our  guide  said  it  ruined  its  owners  and  drove  them  into  bankruptcy ! 

"  You  will  wonder,  as  we  did,  how  a  discovery  that  ought  to  have  made 
a  fortune  for  its  owners  did  exactly  the  reverse.  We  asked  the  guide,  and 
he  thus  explained  it : 

" '  The  Droojba  Company  had  only  land  enough  for  a  well,  and  none 
for  reservoirs.  The  oil  flowed  upon  the  grounds  of  other  people,  and  be- 
came their  property.  Some  of  it  was  caxight  on  waste  ground  that  be- 
longed to  nobody,  but  the  price  had  fallen  so  low  that  the  company  did 
not  realize  from  it  enough  to  pay  the  claims  of  those  whose  property  was 


ANCIENT    MOUND    NEAR    THE    CASPIAN    SEA. 


damaged  by  the  debris  that  flowed  from  the  well  along  with  the  petro- 
leum. In  this  region  considerable  sand  comes  with  the  oil.  The  sandy 
product  of  the  Droojba  well  was  very  large,  and  did  a  great  deal  of  dam- 
age. It  covered  buildings  and  derricks,  impeded  workings,  filled  the  res- 
ervoirs of  other  companies  or  individuals,  and  made  as  much  havoc  gener- 
ally as  a  heavy  storm.' 

"  The  process  of  boring  a  well  is  very  much  the  same  as  in  America, 
and  does  not  merit  a  special  description.  The  diameter  of  the  bore  is 
larger  than  in  America ;  it  varies  from  ten  to  fourteen  inches,  and  some 

27* 


422 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


of  the  wells  have  a  diameter  of  twenty  inches.  Oil  is  found  at  a  depth 
of  from  three  hundred  to  eight  hundred  feet.  Every  year  the  shallow 
wells  are  exhausted,  and  new  borings  are  made  to  greater  depths ;  they 
are  nearly  always  successful,  and  therefore,  though  the  petroleum  field 
around  Balakhani  is  very  large,  the  oil  speculators  show  no  disposition  to 
go  far  from  the  original  site.     To  do  so  would  require  a  large  outlay  for 


CURIOUS    ROCK    FORMATIONS. 


pipe-lines,  or  other  means  of  transporting  the  product,  and  as  long  as  the 
old  spot  holds  out  they  prefer  to  stick  to  it. 

"  Our  guide  said  there  were  about  five  hundred  wells  at  Balakhani : 
there  are  twenty-five  thousand  wells  in  America,  but  it  is  claimed  that 
they  do  not  yield  as  much  oil  in  the  aggregate  as  the  wells  in  this  region. 

"  From  the  wells  the  oil  is  conducted  into  reservoirs,  which  are  nothing 
more  than  pits  dug  in  the  earth,  or  natural  depressions  with  banks  of  sand 
raised  around  them.  Here  the  sand  in  the  oil  is  allowed  to  settle;  when 
it  has  become  clear  enough  for  use  the  crude  petroleum  is  pumped  into 
iron  tanks,  and  then  into  the  pipe-lines  that  carry  it  to  the  refineries  in 
Chorney  Gorod. 

"  Some  of  the  ponds  of  oil  are  large  enough  to  be  called  lakes,  and 
there  are  great  numbers  of  them  scattered  over  the  ground  of  Balakhani. 


A  VISIT  TO  BALAKHANI. 


423 


MODERN    FIRE-WORSIIIPPERS — PARSEE    LADY    AND    DAUGHTER. 


The  iron  cisterns  or  tanks  are  of  great  size ;  the  largest  of  them  is  said  to 
have  a  capacity  of  two  million  gallons. 

"  There  is  no  hotel,  not  even  a  restaurant,  at  Balakhani,  and  we  should 
have  gone  hungry  had  it  not  been  for  the  caution  of  the  hotel-keeper,  who 
advised  us  to  take  a  luncheon  with  us.  The  ride  and  the  exertion  of  walk- 
ing among  the  wells  gave  us  an  appetite  that  an  alderman  would  envy, 


424  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

and  we  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  cold  chicken,  bread,  and  grapes  which  we 
ate  in  the  carriage  before  starting  back  to  the  town.  We  reached  the 
hotel  without  accident,  though  considerably  shaken  up  by  the  rough  road 
and  the  energetic  driving  of  our  Tartar  coachman." 

While  Frank  was  busy  with  his  description,  Fred  was  looking  up  the 
history  of  the  oil-wells  of  Baku.  Here  is  what  he  wrote  concerning 
them  : 

"  For  twenty-five  hundred  years  Baku  has  been  celebrated  for  its  fire- 
springs,  and  for  a  thousand  years  it  has  supplied  surrounding  nations  and 
people  with  its  oil.  From  the  time  of  Zoroaster  (about  600  b.  c.)  it  has 
been  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  the  Guebres,  or  Fire-worshippers,  and  they 
have  kept  their  temples  here  through  all  the  centuries  down  to  the  pres- 
ent day.  At  Surukhani  (about  eight  miles  from  Baku  and  four  or  five 
from  Balakhani)  there  are  some  temples  of  very  ancient  date ;  the}-  stand 
above  the  mouths  of  gas  -  wells,  and  for  twenty  centuries  and  more  the 
Fire-worshippers  have  maintained  the  sacred  flame  there  without  once  al- 
lowing it  to  become  extinct.  On  the  site  of  Baku  itself  there  was  for 
centuries  a  temple  in  which  the  sacred  fire  was  maintained  by  priests  of 
Zoroaster  until  about  a.  d.  G24.  The  Emperor  Heraclius,  in  his  war 
against  the  Persians,  extinguished  the  fires  and  destroyed  the  temple. 

"Since  the  eighth  century,  and  perhaps  earlier,  the  oil  has  been  an 
article  of  commerce  in  Persia  and  other  Oriental  countries.  Read  what 
Marco  Polo  wrote  about  it  in  the  thirteenth  century : 

"'On  the  confines  of  Georgine  there  is  a  fountain  from  which  oil 
springs  in  great  abundance,  inasmuch  as  a  hundred  ship-loads  might  be 
taken  from  it  at  one  time.  This  oil  is  not  good  to  use  with  food,  but  'tis 
good  to  burn,  and  is  used  also  to  anoint  camels  that  have  the  mange.  Peo- 
ple come  from  vast  distances  to  fetch  it,  for  in  all  countries  there  is  no 
other  oil.' 

"  It  is  probable  that  the  good  Marco  means  camel-loads  rather  than 
ship-loads — at  least  that  is  the  opinion  of  most  students  of  the  subject. 
The  fire-temple  of  the  Guebres  is  a  walled  quadrangle,  with  an  altar  in 
the  centre,  where  the  fire  is  kept ;  the  sides  of  the  quadrangle  contain 
cells  where  the  priests  and  attendants  live,  and  in  former  times  there  were 
frequently  several  thousands  of  pilgrims  congregated  there.  We  were 
told  that  the  place  would  not  repay  a  visit,  and  therefore  we  have  not 
gone  there,  as  we  are  somewhat  pressed  for  time,  and  the  journey  is  a 
fatiguing  one. 

"For  a  considerable  space  around  the  temple  there  are  deep  fissures 
in  the  ground  whence  the  gas  steadily  escapes.     Before  the  Russians  occu- 


A  TANK   ON  FIRE. 


425 


A    BURNING    TANK. 


426 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE, 


pied  the  country  there  was  an  annual  sacrifice  by  the  Fire-worshippers.     A 
young  man  was  thrown  into  one  of  the  fissures,  where  he  perished,  though 

some  writers  assert  that  he  leaped  vol- 
untarily, through  the  persuasion  of  the 
priests. 

"  Though  famous  through  many 
centuries,  and  carried  thousands  of 
miles  east  and  west  for  purposes  of 
illumination,  the  oil  of  Baku  was  never 
gathered  in  huge  quantities  until  the 
present  century,  and  the  exploitation 
of  the  oil-fields  on  a  grand  scale  is  an 
affair  of  the  last  twenty  years. 

"In  1820  it  was  estimated  that  the 
yield  of  the  Baku  oil-wells  was  about 
:"-  four  thousand  tons  of  naphtha,  of 
which  the  greater  part  was  sent  to 
Persia.  The  annual  production  re- 
mained about  the  same  until  I860, 
when  it  was  5484  tons;  in  1864  it 
was  8700  tons;  in  1870,  27,500;  and 
in  1872,  24,800  tons.  Down  to  that  time  the  Government  held  a  monop- 
oly of  the  oil-fields,  and  levied  a  royalty  for  operating  them.  In  1S72 
the  monopoly  was  removed,  and  the 
lands  were  offered  for  sale  or  long 
lease. 

"  There  was  a  rush  of  specula- 
tors to  the  oil-fields,  stimulated  by 
the  knowledge  of  what  had  been  ac- 
complished in  America.  Sixty-four 
thousand  tons  were  produced  in 
1873,  94,000  in  1875,  242,000  in 
1877,  420,000  in  1S80,  S00,000  in 
1SS3,  and  over  1,000,000  tons  in  ~^ 
1884.  In  1885  the  total  quantity  of 
raw  petroleum  pumped  or  received 
from  the  wells  was  105,000,000 
poods,  or  nearly  2,000,000  tons. 
Twenty  -  seven  million  poods,  or 
nearly   500,000  tons,  were  distilled  at  Baku 


A    FALL    IN    OIL. 


A     BISK    IN    OIL. 


The  largest  portion,  two- 


SHIPMENTS  OF  OIL   FROM   BAKU.  427 

thirds  at  least,  was  sent  off  by  sea  to  Astrachan,  and  thence  up  the  Volga, 
to  be  forwarded  by  tank-ears  for  distribution  to  all  parts  of  Russia  and 
to  Baltic  ports,  and  thence  to  Germany  and  England.  About  7,250,000 
poods  have  been  shipped  by  the  Trans-Caucasian  Railway  to  Batoum,  on 
the  Black  Sea,  going  thence  to  the  Danube,  to  Odessa,  to  Marseilles,  and 
some  by  the  Suez  Canal  to  India  and  China.  Every  day  large  trains  of 
tank-cars  leave  Baku  via  Tiflis  for  Batonm,  and  a  pipe-line  from  Baku  to 
Batoum  may  be  looked  for  before  long. 

"Down  to  1870  the  oil  was  taken  from  pits  which  were  dug  like  ordi- 
nary wells ;  boring  began  in  that  year  on  the  American  system,  and  the 
first  bored  well  went  into  operation,  the  oil  being  pumped  out  by  the  ordi- 
nary pumping  machinery. 

"  The  first  flowing  well,  or  fontan  (fountain),  as  it  is  called  here,  was 
struck  in  1873.  In  that  year  there  were  only  seventeen  bored  wells  in 
operation,  but  by  the  end  of  1874  there  were  upward  of  fifty.  The  flow- 
ing wells  cease  to  flow  after  a  time,  varying  from  a  few  weeks  to  several 
months  ;  one  well  spouted  forty  thousand  gallons  of  oil  daily  for  more  than 
two  years,  and  afterwards  yielded  half  that  amount  as  a  pumping  well.  The 
history  of  many  wells  of  this  region  is  like  a  chapter  from  the  'Ara- 
bian Nights.' 

"We  are  in  the  midst  of  oil,  and  shall  be  as  long  as  we  remain  at 
Baku.  There  are  pools  of  oil  in  the  streets ;  the  air  is  filled  with  the 
smell  of  oil ;  the  streets  are  sprinkled  with  oil,  as  it  is  cheaper  and  better 
than  water ;  ships  and  steamers  are  black  and  greasy  with  oil,  and  even 
our  food  tastes  of  oil.  Everybody  talks  oil,  and  lives  upon  oil  (figurative- 
ly, at  least),  and  we  long  to  think  of  something  else." 


428  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

A  GLANCE  AT  CENTRAL  ASIA.— RUSSIAN"  CONQUEST  IN  TURKESTAN.— WAR  AND 
DIPLOMACY  AMONG  THE  KIRGHESE  TRIBES.— RUSSIAN1  TAXES  AND  THEIR  COL- 
LECTION—TURCOMAN AND  KIRGHESE  RAIDS.— PRISONERS  SOLD  INTO  SLAVERY. 
—FORTIFIED  VILLAGES  AND  TOWERS  OF  REFUGE.— COMMERCE  IN  TURKESTAN.— 
JEALOUSY  OF  FOREIGNERS— TRAVELS  OF  VAMBERY  AND  OTHERS.— VAMBERY'S 
NARROW  ESCAPE.— TURCOMAN  CHARACTER.— PAYMENTS  FOR  HUMAN  HEADS.— 
MARRIAGE  CUSTOMS  AMONG  THE  TURCOMANS.— EXTENT  AND  POPULATION  OF 
CENTRAL  ASIA. 

WHEN  our  friends  had  completed  their  study  of  the  Petrolia  of  Eu- 
rope they  looked  around  for  new  worlds  to  conquer.  Being  in 
Russia,  they  followed  Russian  tendencies,  and  turned  their  eyes  in  the  di- 
rection of  Central  Asia. 

"Wouldn't  it  be  a  splendid  trip,''  said  Frank,  "to  go  through  Central 
Asia  to  India  and  the  Far  East?  How  long  would  it  take,  and  would  it 
be  very  expensive  V 

"I'm  afraid  there  would  be  too  many  difficulties  in  the  way,"  replied 
the  Doctor,  with  a  smile.  "  In  the  first  place  the  Russians  are  not  inclined 
to  allow  men  of  other  nationalities  to  see  what  they  are  doing  in  the  dis- 
puted country  between  their  possessions  and  those  of  the  English.  They 
would  treat  us  very  politely,  but,  in  one  way  and  another,  would  keep  us 
from  crossing  Afghanistan  to  the  English  lines.  We  should  not  be  wel- 
come  visitors  among  the  English  in  Northern  India.  Most  of  them  regard 
Americans  as  more  friendly  to  Russia  than  to  England  in  whatever  con- 
cerns Central  Asia,  and  the  English  officials  in  the  disputed  country  would 
not  aid  our  movements." 

"  What  would  be  our  facilities  for  travelling,  supposing  we  met  with 
no  official  opposition  ?" 

"  Starting  from  Baku,"  replied  the  Doctor,  "we  could  cross  the  Caspian 
to  Mikhailovsk  in  a  steamer  in  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  hours.  Mikhai- 
lovsk  is  in  what  was  once  the  Turcoman  country,  but  is  now  Russian  terri- 
tory. It  was  permanently  occupied  in  1869,  and  since  that  time  Russia 
has  been  extending  her  possessions  until  she  is  now  at  the  borders  of  India, 


RUSSIAN   DIPLOMACY  IN  CENTRAL   ASIA. 


429 


with  only  a  narrow  strip  of  territory  between  the  English  possessions  and 
her  own. 

"  From  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great  to  the  present,"  the  Doctor  con- 
tinned,  "Russia  has  been  steadily  pressing  farther  and  farther  into  Asia. 
If  inclined  to  be  a  punster,  I  should  say  she  has  advanced  steppe  by  steppe ; 


CAMP    SCENE    NEAR    THE    ALTAI    MOUNTAINS. 


the  Kirghese  and  Turcoman  steppes  have  been  conquered  one  after  anoth- 
er— sometimes  by  fighting,  and  sometimes  by  diplomacy,  but  more  fre- 
quently by  a  skilful  combination  of  both  forms  of  conquest.  The  Russians 
have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Asiatic  people,  probably  because  they  have 
so  much  Asiatic  blood  in  their  own  veins,  and  in  their  dealings  with  the 
savage  or  half-civilized  natives  of  this  vast  country  they  manage  things 
much  better  than  the  English  do. 

"  A  large  part  of  the  Kirghese  country  was  won  without  actual  fight- 
ing, though  with  military  assistance.     It  was  generally  in  this  wise : 

"  Two  tribes  might  be  at  war  with  each  other,  and  Russia,  after  some 
negotiation,  would  coine  to  the  aid  of  the  weaker.     The  presence  of  a 


430 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


.Russian  battalion  of  cavalry  would  be  quite  sufficient  to  frighten  the 
stronger  tribe  into  keeping  the  peace,  as  its  chief  would  understand  that 
resistance  might  cost  him  his  dominions.  Having  made  matters  quiet,  the 
Russian  commander  would  propose  to  leave,  and  let  the  chief  whose  cause 
he  had  been  espousing  take  care  of  himself. 

"  The  chief  would  then  see  for  the  first  time  the  uncomfortable  situa- 
tion he  would  be  in  with  the  retirement  of  his  ally;  the  stronger  tribe 
would  assail  him,  and  be  all  the  more  bitter  against  him  on  account  of  his 
alliance  with  the  Russians.     He  begged  the  Russians  to  stay.     After  some 


A    KALMUCK    ntlEST. 


hesitation  they  consented,  provided  the  management  of  affairs  was  handed 
over  to  them.  They  generally  received  what  they  wanted,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  conquer  the  other  tribe  and  make  themselves  master  over  both. 

"  Sometimes  the  Russians  follow  another  policy ;  they  establish  them- 
selves with  the  weaker  tribe,  make  peace  between  the  two  factions,  and 
then  build  a  fort  and  coolly  announce  that  they  will  remain  permanently. 
The  tribes  find  it  useless  to  resist,  and  thus  they  become  subject  to  Rus- 
sia." 

''Don't  the  English  accuse  the  Russians  of  stirring  up  trouble  among 
the  Kirghese  and  Turcoman  tribes,  so  as  to  have  an  excuse  for  interfer- 
ence ?"  one  of  the  youths  inquired. 


RUSSIAN   MILITARY  EXPEDITIONS. 


4-31 


"  I  believe  they  do,"  the  Doctor  answered.  "  The  Russians  indignant- 
ly deny  that  such  is  the  case ;  of  course  they  would  deny  it,  even  if  con- 
fronted with  unquestionable  proof. 

"  They  have  sent  a  great  many  military  expeditions  into  Central  Asia 
in  the  last  fifty  years.     For  a  long  time  their  base  of  operations  was  at 


SCENE    ON    THE    EDUE    OK    THE    KIRGHEsK    STEPPE. 


Orenburg,  on  the  frontier  of  Siberia,  but  latterly  it  has  been  transferred 
to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian.  Orenburg  is  now  far  in  the  rear,  and  its 
chief  use  is  as  a  military  post,  from  which  order  is  maintained  among  the 
Kirghese. 

"Some  of  the  Russian  expeditions  have  turned  out  disastrously,  but 
they  have  always  followed  a  disaster  by  a  triumph.  In  one  expedition 
every  man  was  killed,  captured,  or  perished  of  starvation  or  thirst  in  the 
desert,  but  immediately  another  army  was  put  in  motion,  and  the  Russians 
more  than  recovered  the  prestige  they  had  lost.  The  list  of  the  battles 
fought  in  Central  Asia  is  a  long  one,  but  longer  still  is  the  list  of  blood- 
less concpiests  made  through  Russian  diplomacy. 

"  Khanates,  chieftaincies,  and  principalities  have  been  absorbed  by  Rus- 
sia in  her  southward  and  eastward  march  over  the  steppes  and  along  the 
valleys  of  the  rivers.     The  cities  of  Tashkcnd,  Samarcand,  Khiva,  Kokan, 


432 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLEKS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


and  Bokhara,  liave  passed  from  the  flag  of  the  intolerant  Moslem  to  that 
of  the  tolerant  Russian,  and  with  the  cities  have  gone  the  khanates  and 
principalities  of  which  they  were  the  capitals." 

Fred  asked  if  the  subjugation  of  these  territories  had  been  beneficial  to 
their  inhabitants  or  not. 

"  In  every  way  it  has  been  a  benefit  to  them,  and  none  of  those  who 
are  peaceably  disposed  would  care  to  return  to  their  old  condition.  The 
Russian  yoke  is  easy  upon  the  necks  of  the  inhabitants;  the  Russians 


KIRGHKSE   GROUP. 


make  no  interference  with  the  religion,  laws,  manners,  and  customs  of  the 
people,  excepting  where  they  are  manifestly  cruel  or  tyrannical ;  they  al- 
low the  natives  to  do  exactly  as  they  like,  protect  them  in  the  possession 
of  their  property,  give  them  facilities  of  trade  never  before  enjoyed,  and 
in  every  way  better  their  condition. 

"In  place  of  the  outrageous  taxes  formerly  levied  by  the  Moslem  au- 
thorities whenever  the  khan  or  his  officials  wanted  money,  the  Russians 
have  a  fixed  annual  tax  which  is  never  above  the  easy  ability  of  the  sub- 
ject to  pay :  it  is  generally  asserted  that  the  taxes  in  Asia  are  much  light- 
er than  those  of  European  Russia,  to  make  sure  that  there  shall  be  no  dis- 
content among  the  people.  The  Russian  Government  requires  that  every 
subject  shall  pay  a  tax,  not  so  much  for  the  value  of  the  article  received 
as  an  acknowledgment  of  subjection. 

"In  the  settled  portions  of  Russia  the  tax  is  payable  in  money,  but  in 
the  wilder  regions  taxes  are  collected  '  in  kind.'    On  the  shores  of  the  Arc- 


COLLECTING   THE   TAXES. 


43-3 


tic  Ocean  and  through  all  the  northern  part  of  Siheria  the  yessalc,  or  tax, 
is  one  fox-skin ;  in  Kamtchatka  it  was  formerly  one  sable-skin,  but  since 
the  increase  in  the  price  of  the  fur,  one  skin  is  received  for  every  four  in- 
habitants, who  arrange  the  division  among  themselves.  In  some  of  the 
grain-growing  parts  of  the  Empire  the  tax  is  paid  in  grain  ;  on  the  Amoor 
Kiver  it  is  paid  in  fish,  and  among  the  Kirghese  and  Turcomans  it  is  paid 


KIRGHESE    CHIEF    AND    FAMILY. 


in  cattle,  sheep,  or  horses,  which  constitute  the  circulating  medium  of  the 
country. 

"  In  return  for  this  tax,  and  provided  the  new  subject  in  Central  Asia 
behaves  himself,  lie  has  the  protection  of  a  powerful  government.  The 
Russian  Government  has  its  faults,  but  it  is  immeasurably  superior  to  the 
old  way  in  which  these  countries  were  ruled. 

"  By  the  religion  of  the  Moslem  might  makes  right,  and  this  was  the 
foundation  of  the  governmental  system  of  the  Kirghese  and  Turcoman 
tribes,  together  with  the  khanates  previously  mentioned.  Robbery  was  a 
recognized  means  of  making  a  living ;  not  robbery  by  detail,  as  practised 
by  highwaymen  and  burglars,  but  wholesale  robbery  in  which  entire  tribes 
were  concerned.     Many  thousands  of  people  lived  by  raiding,  and  the  raid 

28 


434  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


CARAVAN    IN    RUSSIAN    TERRITORT. 


was  as  legitimate  a  way  of  acquiring  property  as  selling  goods  in  a  shop 
and  making  a  profit  on  them." 

Frank  and  Fred  made  an  exclamation  of  surprise  as  the  Doctor  con- 
tinued : 

"The  Kirghese  who  occupy  the  region  immediately  south  of  the  Al- 
tai Mountains,  and  are  still  found  on  the  southern  confines  of  the  Baraba 
Steppe,  are  broken  into  many  independent  tribes;  they  are  nomadic  in 
their  habits,  wandering  from  place  to  place  in  search  of  pasturage  for  their 
immense  flocks  and  herds.  In  winter  they  frequent  the  valleys  among 
the  outlying  hills  of  the  Altai  Mountains,  and  in  summer  descend  upon 
the  plains.  Many  of  the  tribes  live  altogether  on  the  plains,  and  their 
range  covers  many  thousands  of  square  miles. 


RUSSIAN  COMMERCE   DEVELOPED.  435 

"Quarrels  were  numerous  among  them,  chiefly  growing  out  of  dis- 
putes about  pasturage  or  water,  and  these  are  the  quarrels  in  which  the 
Russians  interfered,  both  in  the  interest  of  humanity  and  the  spread  of 
their  power.  Frequently  these  disputes  led  to  raids  for  purposes  of  plun- 
der; quite  as  frequently  one  tribe  would  make  a  raid  on  another  with 
which  it  was  at  peace  for  the  sole  object  of  robbery. 

"Attacks  were  generally  made  at  night,  and  if  they  were  successful 
the  robbers  would  drive  off  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the  tribe  assailed. 
Men,  women,  and  children  were  taken  to  be  sold  into  slavery  in  the  mar- 
kets of  Khiva  and  Bokhara,  or  kept  among  their  captors.  These  slaves 
were  treated  with  the  greatest  cruelty ;  they  were  severely  beaten  for  the 
slightest  offence  or  failure  to  perform  what  had  been  ordered,  were  poorly 
fed,  and  often  compelled  to  wear  chains.  They  were  generally  maimed 
for  life,  by  means  of  a  horse-hair  run  through  the  heel,  in  order  to  prevent 
their  escape  from  captivity. 

"  All  this  business  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  Russians  when  they 
occupied  the  Kirghese  country.  .They  compelled  the  tribes  to  live  peace- 
fully with  each  other,  and  if  any  dispute  arose  about  water  or  pasturage  it 
was  referred  to  the  Russian  commander  of  the  district  for  adjustment. 
If  one  tribe  made  a  raid  on  another  it  was  compelled  to  give  up  the  stolen 
property,  and  furthermore  a  heavy  fine  was  levied  upon  the  raiders — half 
going  to  the  Russian  Government  and  half  to  the  injured  tribe.  The 
Russians  generally  made  the  fine  heavy  enough  to  furnish  a  percentage 
for  the  officers  who  took  the  trouble  to  adjust  the  differences. 

"  Russian  goods  were  introduced  among  these  nomadic  people,  mar- 
kets were  opened,  and  every  facility  was  offered  for  the  increase  of 
commerce.  Long  caravans  were  constantly  in  motion  between  Orenburg, 
Sempolatinsk,  and  other  points  in  Russian  territory,  and  Khiva,  Bokhara, 
and  Samarcand,  far  to  the  east.  They  traversed  the  Kirghese  and  Tur- 
coman country,  and  wherever  they  went  they  found  a  material  difference 
in  the  matter  of  safety,  whether  the  territory  was  under  Russian  rule  or 
remained  independent.  If  the  latter,  the  caravans  were  constantly  liable 
to  attack  and  plunder;  if  the  former,  they  were  invariably  free  from 
molestation. 

"The  capture  of  Bokhara,  Samarcand,  and  Khiva  reduced  the  slave- 
markets  of  the  Turcoman  raiders,  but  by  no  means  put  an  end  to  their 
plundering  expeditions.  The  independent  Turcomans  were  estimated  to 
be  about  a  million  in  number,  divided  into  several  tribes,  who  sometimes 
warred  upon  each  other,  but  constantly  upon  the  Fersians  and  other  peace- 
able people.     In  the  wars  between  Khiva  and  Bokhara,  Samarcand  and 


436  THE  BOY  TEAVELLEKS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

Kokan,  they  took  sides  with  those  who  would  pay  the  most  for  their  serv- 
ices. 

"  Down  to  very  recently  the  whole  of  Northern  Persia  was  subject  to 
Turcoman  raids,  and  agriculture  was  carried  on  under  great  difficulties.* 


K1IIGHESE  11AID  on  a  hostile  tiuue. 


The  raids  were  sometimes  carried  up  to  within  a  hundred  miles  of  Teheran, 
or  about  five  hundred  miles  inside  the  Persian  boundary.  They  were  or- 
ganized months  beforehand,  and  sometimes  as  many  as  five  or  six  thou- 


*  In  an  article  in  Harper's  Magazine  for  March,  1886,  Mr.  William  Simpson,  an 
English  artist  and  journalist,  who  went  to  the  Afghan  frontier  with  the  Boundary  Com- 
mission, says  it  is  only  within  a  couple  of  years  that,  the  raiding  was  brought  to  an  end. 
He  frankly  credits  Russia  with  the  suppression  of  the  raiding  system,  and  says  she  de- 
serves the  thanks  of  the  civilized  world. 


TURCOMAN   RAIDS.  437 

sand  men  were  engaged  in  a  single  enterprise.  A  raid  was  called  a  '  cha- 
pow '  by  the  Persians  ;  in  the  Turcoman  language  it  was  an  '  alaman.' 

"A  Turcoman  leader  would  announce  his  intention  of  making  an  ala- 
man, but  the  route  was  always  kept  secret  through  fear  of  betrayal.  The 
Turcomans  are  splendid  horsemen,  and  while  organizing  an  expedition  they 
put  their  steeds  under  a  system  of  training  to  enable  them  to  make  long 
and  swift  marches  whenever  occasion  required.  When  everything  was 
ready  the  party  started;  it  travelled  slowly  until  it  reached  the  Persian 
frontier,  and  was  often  weeks  on  the  way. 

"  Passing  the  frontier,  the  hard  work  of  the  campaign  began.  The 
region  selected  for  the  raid  was  reached  as  soon  as  possible  ;  then  the  in- 
vading force  was  divided  into  small  parties,  and  each  had  a  particular  vil- 
lage assigned  to  it.  Their  movements  were  made  so  as  to  catch  the  people 
at  work  in  the  fields,  and  capture  the  cattle  before  they  could  be  driven 
into  a  place  of  safety.  Not  only  the  cattle,  but  all  the  men,  women,  and 
children  that  could  be  seized  were  taken.  The  old  and  useless  were 
slaughtered  without  mercy ;  the  young  or  able-bodied  were  carried  off,  to 
be  sold  into  slaver}-.  A  wealthy  Persian  was  held  for  a  heavy  ransom,  but 
a  poor  man  had  no  chance  of  redemption. 

"  The  plundering  was  kept  up  as'  long  as  there  was  anything  to  steal, 
and  then  the  expedition  returned  to  its  own  territory.  Sometimes  in  a 
single  raid  as  many  as  a  hundred  thousand  horses,  sheep,  goats,  and  other 
animals  were  captured,  and  a  thousand  or  more  people  were  carried  into 
slavery." 

Frank  asked  if  the  Persian  Government  made  no  provision  for  the  pro- 
tection of  its  people. 

"Very  little,"  replied  the  Doctor;  "the  Persian  troops  were  in  the 
cities  and  large  towns,  which  the  Turcomans  never  attacked,  and  as  there 
was  no  telegraph  through  the  country,  the  raiders  almost  invariably  got  to 
a  safe  distance  before  a  pursuit  could  be  started.  Very  often  the  Persian 
officials  on  the  frontier  connived  at  the  raids,  and  the  people  were  forced 
to  rely  upon  themselves  for  protection." 

"  In  what  way  could  they  do  anything  against  the  robbers  ?"  was  the 
very  natural  query  that  followed  this  statement. 

"  Their  villages  are  built  of  mud,  and  may  be  called  forts,"  the  Doctor 
replied.  "  The  walls  are  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  thick,  and  about  forty 
in  height ;  they  form  a  quadrangle,  or  circle,  where  cattle  can  be  driven 
at  night,  and  there  is  only  a  single  door-way,  too  low  to  permit  the  pas- 
sage of  a  man  on  horseback.  The  raiders  never  stop  to  besiege  a  place ; 
all  their  work  is  done  by  a  sudden  dash,  and  the  Turcoman  would  never 


43S 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


think  of  dismounting  to  pass  the  low  door-way.  Inside  there  is  a  stone 
door  which  may  be  closed  to  prevent  ingress ;  it  is  thick  and  strong,  and 
once  inside  of  their  mud  village  the  people  are  safe. 

"Here  is  a  picture  of  one  of  these  villages,"  said  the  Doctor;  "it  is 
called  Lasgird,  and  is  about  a  hundred  miles  east  of  the  capital  of  Persia. 


LASGIRD A    FORTIFIED    TILLAGE    IN    NORTHERN    PERSIA. 


You  will  observe  that  there  is  a  double  tier  of  dwellings  on  the  top  of  the 
circular  wall ;  the  enclosed  space  accommodates  the  cattle  and  other  live- 
stock of  the  village,  and  is  also  utilized  for  the  storage  of  grain.  On  the 
outside,  near  the  top,  there  is  a  balcony  made  of  projecting  timbers  cov- 
ered with  branches  of  trees  ;  it  has  no  outer  railing,  and  must  be  a  very 
unsafe  place  for  a  promenade.  Inside  of  such  a  retreat  the  people  had 
nothing  to  fear,  as  the  Turcomans  have  no  artillery  and  did  not  care  to 
stay  long  enough  to  batter  down  the  walls." 

Fred  remarked  that  it  must  be  difficult  for  those  at  work  in  the  fields 
at  any  distance  to  get  to  the  village  before  they  were  overtaken  by  the 
raiders  on  their  swift  horses. 

"So  it  is,"  was  the  reply,  "and  to  further  protect  themselves  they  had 
towers  of  refuge  in  their  fields,  where  they  could  run  in  case  of  danger. 
Some  of  the  towers  had  ladders  on  the  outside  which  were  drawn  up  as 


PERSIANS   AND    TURCOMANS. 


43?) 


the  Turcomans  approached,  while  others  were  entered  by  narrow  door-ways 
similar  to  those  of  the  villages.  On  the  hills  there  were  signal-towers 
where  watchmen  were  stationed  ;  when  the  dust  of  an  approaching  alaman 
was  seen,  the  watchmen  gave  warning  and  the  people  fled  for  safety." 

"  What  a  life  to  lead  !"  said  one  of  the  youths.    "  Always  apprehensive 
of  danger,  and  never  knowing  when  the  murderous   Turcomans  might 


come  > 


"It  was  much  like  the  life  of  the  early  settlers  of  New  England,"  said 
the  Doctor,  "  when  the  Indians  were  liable  to  come  at  any  moment,  and 
the  men  carried  their  guns  to  church  on  Sunday.  The  same  condition  of 
things  has  continued  until  quite  recently  on  our  western  frontier,  and  still 


"^d-^&r^ 


TOWER    OK    REFUGE. 


exists  in  a  few  places  in  Texas  and  New  Mexico.  But  the  difference  is 
that  in  our  country  it  never  lasted  for  many  years  in  any  one  place,  while 
in  Persia  the  situation  was  the  same  for  centuries. 

"  These  Turcoman  thieves  hampered  agriculture  in  the  way  I  have  de- 
scribed, and  they  also  restricted  commerce  by  plundering  the  caravans. 
Merchants  travelled  with  an  armed  escort  and  in  large  numbers.  Even 
this  did  not  save  them  from  attack,  as  a  great  caravan  was  unwieldy,  and 
often  the  robbers  would  dart  in  and  seize  a  few  camels  laden  with  mer- 
chandise while  the  escort  was  so  far  away  in  another  part  of  the  line  that 
it  could  not  rush  to  attack  the  marauders  until  they  had  finished  their  work 
and  departed.  And  remember  that  for  centuries  trade  has  followed  this 
dangerous  route  ! 

"  A  curious  thing  about  these  raids  is  that  the  departure  of  a  plunder- 


440 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


ing  expedition  was  always  accompanied  by  religious  ceremonies.  The 
Mollahs,  or  Moslem  priests,  gave  their  blessing  to  the  thieves,  and  prayed 
for  Allah's  favor  upon  the  enterprise.     When  the  party  returned  laden 

with  plunder,  and  driving  slaves 
and  stolen  cattle  in  great  num- 
ber, the  same  priests  offered 
prayers  in  thanks  for  Allah's 
blessing,  and  a  portion  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  expedition  was 
set  apart  for  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion." 

"Then   they  must  be   of  a 
different  religion  from  the  Per- 
sians," Fred  observed,  "  as  they 
would   not   be   likely   to   make 
war  upon  people  of  their  own 
faith." 
"Unfortunately  for  your  theory,  that  was  not  the  case,"  the  Doctor  an- 
swered.    "  Persians  and  Turcomans  are  all  Moslems ;  they  have  different 
sects,  just  as  have  the  adherents  of  the  Christian  religion,  but  in  a  general 


FRAMEWORK  OF  TURCOMAN  TENT. 


THE  TENT  COVERED. 


way  they  may  be  said  to  be  of  tlte  same  faith.  Moslems  make  war 
upon  each  other  with  very  little  hesitation ;  the  only  thing  in  which 
they  appear  to  be  united  is  in  their  hatred  of  all  other  religions  than 
their  own." 

"  I  suppose  they  have  not  received  travellers  with  any  courtesy,"  said 


ENGLISH  EXPLORERS  IN  TURKESTAN. 


441 


Frank.  "  Do  they  permit  foreigners  to  visit  their  country  and  study  its 
character  ?" 

"Not  at  all,"  was  the  reply,  "if  they  can  prevent  it,  and  they  are  not 
at  all  particular  about  the  mode  of  prevention.  Of  course,  since  the 
country  was  occupied  by  Russia  there  has  been  a  change  in  this  respect, 
and  under  Russian  protection  a  stranger  may  travel  there  with  comparative 
safety. 

"In  former  times  most  of  the  Europeans  who  ventured  into  Turkes- 
tan (the  collective  name  for  the  countries  of  Central  Asia)  paid  the  penal- 
ty of  their  temerity  with  their  lives.  Russians,  Englishmen,  Germans, 
and  others  perished,  and  not  one  explorer  in  ten  returned  to  tell  the  story 
of  his  travels.  Two  English  ambassadors,  Colonel  Stoddart  and  Captain 
Conolly,  ventured  into  Bokhara  about  1840,  and  were  murdered,  the  for- 
mer after  four  years'  imprisonment,  and  the  latter  after  a  twelvemonth. 


INTERIOR    OF    TENT. 


"Stoddart  was  repeatedly  tortured,  and  finally  was  promised  his  free- 
dom if  he  would  embrace  the  Moslem  religion.  To  save  his  life  he  con- 
sented, and  went  through  the  required  ceremony ;  the  Emir  of  Bokhara 
continued  to  torture  him,  and  finally  ordered  the  heads  of  both  Conolly 
and  Stoddart  to  be  cut  off  in  the  public  square  of  Bokhara. 

"  Stoddart  was  executed  first,  and  then  the  Emir  offered  Conolly  his 
freedom  if  he  would  become  a  Moslem.  '  No,'  said  he,  '  I  prefer  to  die. 
Stoddart  became  a  Moslem  and  you  have  killed  him.  Go  on  with  your 
work.'  The  Emir  nodded  to  the  executioner,  and  the  work  of  execution 
was  completed. 

"  Wood,  another  Englishman,  who  went  to  Bokhara  to  ascertain  what 


442 


THE   EOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


had  become  of  Stoddart  and  Conolly,  was  imprisoned  for  some  time,  and 
narrowly  escaped  with  his  life.  A  more  fortunate  explorer  was  Arminins 
Vambe'ry,  a  Hungarian,  who  travelled  through  Central  Asia  disguised  as  a 
dervish  from  Constantinople.  At  the  very  outset  of  his  journey  he  was 
obliged  to  wait  for  three-quarters  of  a  year  in  Teheran  before  he  could 
find  the  right  kind  of  party  to  travel  with.  In  his  character  of  dervish 
he  associated  with  pilgrims  like  himself,  who  wished  to  visit  the  Moslem 


VAMBERY  S    RECEPTION    BY    TURCOMAN    CHIEF   ON    THE    CASPIAN    SHORE. 


shrines  of  Bokhara  and  Samarcand.  They  were  twenty-four  in  number, 
and  nearly  all  of  them  were  distinguished  for  their  poverty.  They  in- 
tended to  beg  their  way  through  the  country  and  back  again  ;  Vain  bury 
had  a  little  money,  which  he  carefully  concealed,  as  it  would  not  be  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  assumed  character  of  dervish  to  be  known  to  have  any 
ready  cash. 

"  From  Teheran  they  went  north  to  the  Turcoman  country,  which  then 
extended  westward  to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea.     On  landing,  they 


A   GHASTLY   SPECTACLE. 


443 


444  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

were  greeted  by  the  Turcoman  chief  who  ruled  in  that  district;  he  was 
very  hospitable,  and  entertained  them  for  a  whole  month  merely  for  the 
sake  of  having  visitors. 

"In  a  caravan  of  Turcoman  horsemen  they  journeyed  to  Khiva,  cross- 
ing a  desert  region  where  for  days  they  had  only  the  water  they  carried 
on  their  saddles.  They  fell  short  of  water,  and  while  their  suffering  was 
severe  they  were  relieved  by  the  chief  of  the  caravan,  who  had  an  extra 
store  concealed  in  his  baggage.  As  he  doled  it  out  to  the  pilgrims  he  said 
it  had  always  been  his  custom  to  carry  an  extra  supply  of  water  while 
crossing  the  desert,  and  distribute  it  when  most  needed.  But  this  same 
man  had  proposed  a  few  days  before  to  leave  Vimbery  to  perish  in  the 
desert,  on  the  mere  suspicion  that  he  was  a  European  in  disguise. 

"  Vambery  gives  an  excellent  description  of  the  Turcoman  character, 
which  has  been  fully  confirmed  by  other  travellers,  and  later  by  the  Ilus- 
sian  conquerors  of  Turkestan.  They  are  honest  in  their  dealings  with 
each  other,  and  often  display  much  tenderness ;  at  the  same  time  they  are 
the  most  brutal  of  slave-masters  and  man-stealers,  and  capable  of  the  sever- 
est cruelty.  Vambery  says  that  one  day  a  Turcoman  said  it  was  a  sin  to 
destroy  a  basket  in  the  desert,  because  it  had  once  been  the  seat  of  a  man 
on  a  camel ;  the  same  man  denied  a  drop  of  water  to  a  slave  whom  he  had 
fed  on  salt-fish  for  two  days,  and  his  delight  at  the  suffering  of  his  victim 
was  equal  to  that  of  a  countryman  over  the  antics  of  a  clown  at  a  circus. 

"  Some  of  the  tribes,  in  their  wars  with  each  other,  cut  off  the  heads  of 
those  whom  they  slay  in  battle,  and  bring  them  home  as  trophies ;  Vam- 
bery happened  to  be  present  in  Khiva  when,  one  day,  the  Khan's  treasurer 
was  paying  for  human  heads.  As  each  warrior  came  forward  he  emptied 
his  sack  on  the  ground,  and  an  accountant  made  note  of  the  number  of 
skulls  and  the  name  of  their  owner. 

"  The  payment  was  not  in  money,  but  in  robes  of  honor,  which  were 
of  different  colors,  according  to  the  number  of  slain  to  each  warrior's  cred- 
it. Some  received  the  robe  of  forty  heads,  others  the  robe  of  twenty,  and 
others  that  of  ten,  five,  or  four.  It  was  like  the  different  degrees  of  the 
decorations  awarded  by  the  rulers  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  or  the  rewards 
of  merit  issued  by  a  school-teacher  to  diligent  and  well-behaved  pupils. 

"Another  time  Vambery  was  in  the  public  square  of  Khiva  when 
about  three  hundred  prisoners  of  war  were  brought  in.  They  were  sepa- 
rated into  two  divisions,  those  who  had  not  reached  their  fortieth  year,  and 
were  to  be  sold  as  slaves  or  given  as  presents,  being  placed  in  one  category. 
They  were  chained  together  and  led  away,  and  then  the  old  men  were 
brought  forward  for  punishment ;  and  what  do  you  suppose  it  was? 


TURCOMAN   BARBARITIES. 


445 


TURCOMAN    TROPHY A    RUSSIAN    HEAD. 


446  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

"  These  gray-bearded  old  men  were  tied  hand  and  foot  and  placed  flat 
on  their  backs  on  the  ground.  Then  their  eyes  were  gouged  out,  the  exe- 
cutioner kneeling  on  the  breast  of  each  to  perform  his  dreadful  work. 
Each  time  when  he  finished  with  a  victim  he  deliberately  wiped  his  knife 
on  the  latter's  flowing  beard.  Vambery  says  the  scene  will  make  him 
shudder  as  long  as  he  lives,  and  no  wonder.     • 

"And  yet  he  found  the  people  of  Khiva  full  of  pious  charity.  The 
same  khan  who  bad  ordered  this  cruel  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war, 
loaded  the  supposed  dervish  and  his  companions  with  presents,  and  showed 
them  every  kindness.  When  Vambery  left  in  the  direction  of  Bokhara, 
he  was  mounted  on  a  good  donkey,  and  had  plenty  of  clothing,  provisions, 
and  money,  which  had  been  given  him  by  the  faithful. 

"  Vambery  says  he  one  day  asked  a  robber  who  was  noted  for  piety, 
how  he  could  sell  his  brother  religionists  into  slavery.  The  robber  re- 
plied that  the  holy  book,  the  Koran,  was  certainly  more  precious  than 
man,  and  yet  it  was  bought  or  sold  for  a  few  small  coins.  He  added  that 
Joseph,  the  son  of  Jacob,  was  a  prophet,  but  was  sold  into  slavery  without 
being  any  the  worse  for  it.  His  argument  was  forcible,  and  the  stranger 
concluded  it  was  best  not  to  oppose  it." 

Frank  asked  how  the  women  of  the  Turcoman  tribes  were  treated  by 
their  lords  and  masters. 

"Women  among  the  Turcomans  have  an  inferior  position,  as  in  all 
Moslem  countries,1'  the  Doctor  replied.  "  They  are  far  more  the  slaves  of 
their  husbands  than  their  equals ;  sometimes  they  are  treated  with  great 
kindness,  but  more  frequently  their  lives  are  full  of  hardship.  They  per- 
form most  of  the  labor  of  the  camp  and  village,  the  men  being  chiefly  oc- 
cupied with  the  care  of  the  flocks  and  herds,  making  expeditions  for  the 
sake  of  plunder,  or  warring  on  neighboring  tribes. 

"  Husbands  sell  their  wives  as  they  sell  cattle  or  sheep,  and  the  poor 
creatures  have  no  redress  for  their  wrongs.  A  husband  buys  his  wife 
from  her  parents,  and  she  has  very  little  voice  in  the  transaction  ;  the 
price  is  generally  based  upon  the  social  standing  of  the  parties,  and  the 
ability  of  the  purchaser  to  pay  for  the  property.  Among  nearly  all  the 
nomad  tribes  of  Turkestan  the  marriage  ceremony  includes  a  race  for  the 
bride ;  the  game  is  called  Kdlhitri  (green  wolf),  and  is  decidedly  interesting. 

"  The  girl  is  mounted  on  a  swift  horse,  and  carries  the  carcass  of  a  lamb 
before  her  on  the  saddle.  She  is  given  a  certain  start  in  advance  of  the 
bridegroom  and  his  friends;  they  follow  on  horseback,  and  unless  the 
bridegroom  can  take  the  lamb  from  her  hands  during  the  race  the  match 
is  '  off.'     She  makes  a  show  of  resistance,  and  generally  leads  the  party  a 


WOMEN  OF   TURKESTAN. 


447 


long  distance,  but  the  affair  having  been  negotiated  beforehand,  is  pretty 
sure  to  end  in  the  surrender  of  the  Iamb.  In  some  tribes  the  girl  must  be 
lifted  from  the  saddle  by  the  bridegroom,  who  carries  her  On  his  own 
horse  back  to  the  point  of  starting. 

"  There  is  this  difference  in  the  treatment  of  the  women  of  Turkestan 
and  those  of  most  other  Moslem  countries,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "  that 


KOKBURI A    RACK    FOR    A    BRIDE 


they  are  not  required  to  cover  their  faces.  In  Turkey,  Egypt,  and  Arabia 
the  Moslem  woman  who  leaves  her  face  uncovered  commits  an  act  of  great 
impropriety,  but  this  is  not  the  case  in  Turkestan.  Many  of  the  women 
are  quite  pretty  in  their  youth,  but  their  good  looks  do  not  last  long.  The 
men  are  of  good  height  and  figure,  and  their  manners  are  grave  and  digni- 
fied. The  hair  and  beard  are  dark,  and  the  complexion  may  be  set  down 
as  a  light  shade  of  brown." 

Frank  asked  how  many  tribes  and  people  were  included  in  Turkestan 
or  Central  Asia,  and  how  great  was  the  population. 


448 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


"  That  is  a  very  difficult  question  to  answer,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  in  fact 
it  is  impossible  to  do  so  exactly.  The  census-taker  is  unknown  in  Central 
Asia,  except  in  the  cities  and  towns;  even  there  he  does  not  enumerate 
the  whole  population,  but  only  the  heads  of  families  and  the  men  capable 
of  bearing  arms.     Turkestan  includes  all  the  country  between  the  Caspian 


VIEW    OF    THE    CITADEL    OF    KHIVA. 


Sea  and  the  110th  degree  of  longitude  east,  and  from  Siberia  southward 
to  Persia,  Afghanistan,  and  Thibet.  Turkestan  means  '  The  land  of  the 
Turks.'  On  the  maps  it  is  generally  divided  into  Eastern  and  Western 
Turkestan,  the  former  lying  partly  in  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  the  latter 
covering  the  vast  plain  of  the  Caspian  and  Aral  seas.  The  population  is 
variously  estimated  at  from  eight  to  twelve  millions.  Russia  has  absorbed 
nearly  all  of  Western  Turkestan,  and  the  Russian  officials  think  they  have 
at  least  eight  millions  of  people  in  their  new  possessions. 

"The  tribes  and  provinces  are  divided  and  subdivided  so  that  they  are 
not  easy  to  name.     Western  Turkestan  was  formerly  known  as  Indepen- 


COUNTRIES   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA. 


44'J 


dent  Tartary,  and  comprises  the  Turcoman  steppes,  the  khanates  of  Khiva, 
Bokhara,  Samarcand,  and  Kokan,  together  with  Balkh  and  some  smaller 
provinces  which  are  in  dispute  between  Russia  and  Afghanistan.  These 
disputes  have  led  to  quarrels  between  Russia  and  England,  and  quite  like- 
ly will  lead  to  war  at  no  distant  day. 

"The  people  dwelling  in  Turkestan  are  mainly  of  the  Turkish  race; 
their  language  is  Turkish,  and  the  country  was  the  seat  of  the  race  that 


AN    OZBEK    HEAD. 


spread  its  boundaries  by  a  career  of  conquests,  which  did  not  stop  until  it 
entered  Europe  and  pressed  as  far  westward  as  the  walls  of  Vienna.  Brief- 
ly we  may  say  the  inhabitants  of  Turkestan  are  Ozbeks  or  Uzbeks  (the 

29 


450  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

dominant  race),  Turcomans,  Kirghese,  Karakalpaks,  Tajiks,  Persians,  Kip- 
chaks,  and  a  few  Arabs,  Hindoos,  and  Jews.  The  Ozbeks  are  the  most  civ- 
ilized people  of  the  country,  and  are  mainly  settled  in  the  cities  and  towns ; 
they  fill  most  of  the  official  positions,  and  their  leading  families  can  trace 
their  descent  for  centuries.  The  Persians  are  mostly  descended  from 
those  who  have  been  stolen  by  the  Turcomans  and  sold  into  slavery,  and 
the  Arabs,  Hindoos,  and  Jews  may  be  regarded  as  wanderers  who  have 
been  drawn  there  by  business  or  accident. 

"  I  have  already  told  you  something  of  the  Kirghese,  whose  country 
was  the  first  to  be  absorbed  by  Russia.  The  other  people  of  Turkestan 
besides  those  just  mentioned  are  not  sufficiently  numerous  or  important  to 
deserve  special  description.  If  you  wish  further  particulars,  you  will  find 
them  in  Schuyler's  '  Turkestan,'  Vambery's  '  Travels  in  Central  Asia,' 
'  History  of  Bokhara,'  and  Shaw's  '  High  Tartary,  Yarkand,  and  Kashgar.'  " 

The  conversation  was  interrupted  by  a  gentleman  who  called  to  ask 
if  Doctor  Bronson  and  his  young  friends  would  like  to  make  a  trip  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  A  steamer  was  to  leave  in  two  or  three 
hours  for  Mikhailovsk,  and  the  next  morning  would  see  them  landed  in 
the  country  where,  until  quite  recently,  the  Turcomans  reigned  and  robbed 
at  will. 

The  invitation  was  promptly  accepted,  and  when  the  steamer  left  Baku 
our  friends  were  among  her  passengers.  "What  they  saw  and  heard  will 
be  told  in  the  next  chapter. 


ACROSS  THE    CASPIAN. 


451 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

FRANK  AND  FRED  IN  THE  TURCOMAN  COUNTRY.— THE  TRANS-CASPIAN  RAILWAY. 
— SKOBELEFF'S  CAMPAIGN,  AND  THE  CAPTURE  OF  GEOK  TEPE.— ENGLISH  JEAL- 
OUSY OF  RUSSIAN  ADVANCES.  —  RIVERS  OF  CENTRAL  ASIA.  — THE  ONUS  AND 
JAXARTES.  — AGRICULTURE  BY  IRRIGATION. —  KHIVA,  SAMARCAXD,  AND  BO- 
KHARA.—A  RIDE  OX  THE  TRANS-CASPIAN  RAILWAY.  — STATISTICS  OF  THE 
LINE.— KIZIL  ARVAT,  ASKABAD,  AND  SARAKHS.— ROUTE  TO  HERAT  AND  INDIA. 
—TURCOMAN  DEVASTATION— THE  AFGHAN  BOUNDARY  QUESTION.— HOW  MERV 
WAS  CAPTURED.  — O'DONOVAN  AND  MACGAHAN :  THEIR  REMARKABLE  JOUR- 
NEYS.—RAILWAY  ROUTE  FROM  ENGLAND  TO  INDIA.— RETURN  TO  BAKU. 

OUR  young  friends  were  up  early,  in  their  eagerness  to  see  the  country 
of  the  Turcomans.  They  found  themselves  looking  at  a  compara- 
tively flat  region,  quite  in  contrast  with  the  chain  of  the  Caucasus,  that 
filled  the  horizon  to  the  west  of  Baku,  and  interposed  a  formidable  bar- 
rier between  the  Caspian  and  Black  seas.  The  steamer  headed  into  a 
narrow   bay  which   formed   the    harbor   of  Mikhailovsk,   the   new  town 


Scutari 

Sli,~  4  S  I  A  T  , 

^  T,  Smyrna 


|BatiSSlr>'.» 


Kh 


mt.ar«k'„t±-  —  r 


ab'rrz     1 
%  ^ffxpi-trsf  X   V    f[^  Ell  I 


^       Meshed   Tieraft^r?^s»  ,     p-V.Jt    H*^>M_  *>f- 
^  I     /"AFGHANIS- j)    t^^-^K^.- 


iGpahan  ty 


DoosliaS 


^O^"'*'- 


MAP    SHOWING    TnE    RELATIONS    OF    Rl'SfIA    AND    ENGLAND    IN    THE   EAST. 


.452 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


whence  the  Trans-Caspian  Railway  takes  its  departure  in  the  direction 
of  India. 

Everything  indicated  the  newness  of  the  place.  Houses,  barracks, 
piers,  railway-station,  all  were  new,  and  many  of  the  houses  were  not  even 
finished.      Russian  soldiers  and  Russian  officers  were  numerous  in  the 


SAND-STORM    IN    THE    DESERT. 


crowd  at  the  landing-place,  and  there  were  scores  of  mujiks  busily  en- 
gaged in  handling  goods  destined  for  the  railway  or  for  the  steamers,  but 
they  did  not  by  any  means  have  a  monopoly  of  the  labor  market  of  Mi- 
khailovsk.  Tartars,  Kirghese,  Turcomans,  Persians,  and  other  Asiatics  were 
there  in  considerable  numbers.  They  appeared  to  be  quite  as  industrious 
as  the  mujiks,  and  every  way  as  keen  to  scent  a  job  wherein  money  was  to 
be  earned. 

It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that  the  Turcomans,  now  that  they 
are  forbidden  to  indulge  in  raiding,  have  turned  their  attention  to  steady 


THE   TRANS-CASPIAN   RAILWAY. 


453 


industry,  and  promise  to  make  good  citizens.  "Whatever  may  be  their 
faults,  they  are  not  a  lazy  people ;  they  gave  up  their  raiding  habits  very 
unwillingly;  but  when  once  convinced  that  they  must  live  by  industry, 
they  seem  to  have  accej>ted  the  situation. 

Mr.  Ivanovich,  the  gentleman  who  invited  our  friends  to  cross  the  Cas- 
pian, was  connected  with  the  management  of  the  Trans-Caspian  Railway, 
as  the  line  from  Mikhailovsk  is  called.     During  the  voyage  from  Baku 


TURCOMAN    COURT    OF    JUSTICE. 


he  gave  the  youths  an  account  of  the  building  of  the  railway,  and  matters 
connected  with  it,  of  which  Frank  made  the  following  notes : 

"The  Trans-Caspian  Railwaj',"  said  Mr.  Ivanovich,  ''owes  its  existence 
to  a  military  necessity  that  arose  in  1S79.  When  the  Russians  first  occu- 
pied the  Turcoman  country  they  built  fortifications,  and  settled  down  to 
stay.  General  Skobeleff  always  claimed  that  we  made  a  great  mistake  in 
doing  so;  the  Government  did  not  think  it  safe  to  make  a  movement 
directly  into  the  Turcoman  country,  and  consecpiently  several  years  were 
occupied  in  doing  what  Skobeleff  thought  should  have  been  done  in  one. 
The  Turcomans  knew  nothing  about  regular  warfare,  and  we  might  have 
crushed  them  in  a  little  while  with  our  trained  battalions.  But  we  waited 
so  long  that  they  learned  how  to  fight,  partly  through  our  own  instruction, 
and  then  it  required  the  best  of  fighting  to  defeat  them. 

"  It  looked  at  one  time  as  if  the  Turcomans  would  altogether  prevent 
us  from  getting  any  foothold  in  their  country  beyond  the  shores  of  the  Cas- 
pian. Skirmishes  almost  without  number  occurred,  in  which  sometimes 
the  Russians  and  sometimes  the  Turcomans  had  the  best  of  the  contest. 


454 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


Skobeleff,  then  a  captain,  was  one  of  those  who  landed  at  Krasnovodsk  in 
1869.  He  made  more  successes  in  the  fighting  with  the  Turcomans  than 
anybody  else;  but  in  1873  he  was  called  away  in  the  campaign  against 
Khiva,  and  from  that  time  to  1879  nothing  of  moment  was  accom- 
plished. 

"  In  1S7S  Tekme  Sardar,  a  Turcoman  chief,  submitted  to  the  Russians, 
and  was  received  into  their  camp  at  Krasnovodsk.  He  remained  there 
several  months,  and  then,  for  some  real  or  fancied  injury,  fled  from  the 


EIROHRSI   TOMB. 


camp,  and  collected  his  followers  with  the  determination  to  make  war  on 
the  invaders.  At  a  place  called  Geok  Tepe  he  formed  a  junction  with 
other  chiefs,  and  established  a  camp. 

"  Tekme  Sardar  had  made  good  use  of  his  eyes  during  his  stay  among 
us.  lie  showed  his  people  how  to  build  forts.  About  forty  thousand 
Turcomans,  with  their  families,  collected  at  Geok  Tepe.  and  threw  up  an 
immense  earthwork  exactly  like  the  defences  built  by  the  Russians.  Gen- 
eral Lomakin  advanced  against  this  earthwork  in  1S79,  and  after  a  series 
of  skirmishes  outside  the  walls  he  attacked  the  Turcomans  in  their  strong- 
hold, and  was  severely  repulsed.  He  retired  to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian, 
and  thus  ended  the  campaign  for  that  year. 

"General  Skobeleff  was  then  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Turco- 


WARFARE  IN  TURKESTAN. 


455 


CHARGE    OF   RUSSIAN    CAVALRY    AGAINST    TURCOMANS. 


456  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

man  district,  and  the  Government  told  liim  lie  could  have  anything  he 
wanted  in  men  or  munitions  of  war. 

"  The  Government  had  a  hundred  miles  of  railway  material  somewhere 
on  its  south-western  frontier,  which  was  intended  for  use  in  ease  of  the 
failure  of  the  Berlin  Congress.  Skobeleff  asked  for  this  material,  and  it 
was  at  once  transferred  to  the  Caspian.  He  changed  the  base  of  opera- 
tions from  Krasnovodsk  to  Mikhailovsk,  and  at  once  began  the  construc- 
tion of  the  line.  The  whole  movement  was  made  so  quietly  that  hardly 
anything  was  known  of  the  work  until  the  track  had  been  laid  about  half- 
way to  Kizil  Arvat,  one  hundred  and  forty-four  miles  from  Mikhailovsk. 

"Skobeleff  could  not  wait  for  the  completion  of  the  railway.  While 
the  road  was  being  constructed  he  pushed  forward  to  Bami,  a  strong  point 
in  the  Akhal  oasis,  where  he  built  a  fort,  and  gradually  collected  the  ma- 
terials for  the  siege  of  Geok  Tepe.  When  everything  was  in  readiness  he 
advanced  and  began  the  siege,  which  lasted  fully  a  month. 

"  Perhaps  the  following  figures  will  interest  you :  The  Russians  were 
between  eight  and  ten  thousand  strong,  of  all  arms,  infantry,  cavalry,  and 
artillery.  The  artillery  comprised  sixty-nine  guns,  while  the  Turcomans 
had  no  cannon  to  oppose  them  with.  When  the  siege  began,  Skobeleff 
found  that  his  cannon  made  little  impression  upon  the  clay  walls  of  the 
fort,  so  he  ordered  his  artillery  to  fire  over  the  walls  and  into  the  enclosed 
space,  in  order  to  demoralize  the  people  within  as  much  as  possible.  In 
fighting  against  Asiatics,  artillery  always  has  a  prominent  part.  Its  moral 
effect  in  frightening  them  is  certainly  ten  times  as  great  as  its  destructive 
power. 

"During  the  siege  the  artillery  fired  from  one  hundred  to  five  hundred 
shots  daily,  and  the  infantry  used  from  ten  thousand  to  seventy  thousand 
rounds  of  ammunition  in  the  same  time.  Skobeleff  sunk  a  mine  under  the 
rampart,  and  exploded  more  than  a  ton  of  gunpowder  at  a  single  blast.  It 
made  a  wide  breach,  through  which  the  Russian  army  poured  into  the  fort, 
with  very  little  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Turcomans.  The  latter  tied 
in  the  direction  of  Merv,  but  were  pursued  by  the  Russian  cavalry.  The 
slaughter  is  said  to  have  been  fearful,  and  the  Russians  say  that  twenty 
thousand  Turcomans  perished  in  the  siege  and  capture  of  Geok  Tepe. 
During  the  assault  and  pursuit  the  infantry  tired  273,804  rounds,  the  cav- 
alry 12,510,  and  the  artillery  5,804  ;  224  military  rockets  were  also  used.* 

"Many  careful  students  of  the  history  of  Central  Asia,"  continued  Mr. 
Ivanovich,  "consider  the  siege  and  capture  of  Geok  Tepe  the  most  im- 

*  Marvin's  "  The  Russians  at  the  Gates  of  Herat." 


A  NIGHT  MARCH. 


451 


i'liu.  .,;„■■■;  >!  .uPiiAi ':,?,;.  i.'^il 


458  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

portant  victory  ever  achieved  by  the  Russians  in  Turkestan.  It  opened 
the  way  for  the  Russian  advance  to  the  frontier  of  India,  and  carried  the 
boundaries  of  the  Empire  southward  to  those  of  Persia.  In  the  interest  of 
humanity  it  was  of  the  greatest  importance,  as  it  broke  up  the  system  of 
man-stealing  and  its  attendant  cruelties  which  the  Turcomans  had  prac- 
tised for  centuries.  The  people  of  Northern  Persia  no  longer  live  in  con- 
stant terror  of  Turcoman  raids ;  the  slave-markets  of  Central  Asia  are 
closed,  and  doubtless  forever." 

Frank  asked  if  the  English  Government  was  as  well  pleased  with  the 
result  of  the  siege  as  were  the  Russians. 

Mr.  Ivanovich  said  he  did  not  know  exactly  how  the  English  regarded 
the  victory,  but  from  the  tone  of  their  press  and  the  utterances  of  British 
statesmen,  he  did  not  think  they  would  have  mourned  if  the  Russians  had 
been  repulsed.  "England,"  said  he,  "is  jealous  of  Russian  advances  in 
Turkestan.  Lord  Salisbury  believed  that  the  Turcoman  barrier  against 
Russia  would  last  his  lifetime,  and  many  other  English  statesmen  and  offi- 
cers shared  his  belief. 

"No  doubt  they  were  very  sorry  for  the  sufferings  of  the  Persians, 
who  were  sold  into  slavery  after  seeing  their  homes  plundered  and  their 
fields  devastated,  but  I  question  if  they  were  willing,  for  political  reasons^ 
to  see  the  Turcomans  wiped  out  as  they  were  at  Geok  Tepd.  I  think  I 
have  read  much  more  in  the  English  papers  about  the  loss  to  English  com- 
merce by  the  Russian  occupation  of  Central  Asia  than  of  the  gain  to 
humanity  by  the  suppression  of  the  Turcoman  raids. 

"The  interests  of  British  trade  are  the  first  consideration  of  the  British 
statesman.  Many  thousands  of  Africans  and  Asiatics  have  died  by  Brit- 
ish bullets  and  sabres  that  the  commerce  of  England  might  be  extended. 
Unless  I  mistake  the  temper  of  the  British  Government,  I  am  afraid  that 
the  advisers  of  the  Queen  would  prefer  the  old  state  of  things  to  the  new 
on  the  Turcoman  steppes.  The  sale  of  a  thousand  bales  of  Manchester 
cottons  in  the  bazaars  of  Turkestan  is  of  more  consequence  to  England 
than  the  enslavement  of  a  thousand  Persians  and  the  desolation  of  their 
homes. 

"  But  that  is  wandering  from  the  subject,"  said  Mr.  Ivanovich,  with  a 
smile.  "I  may  be  prejudiced,  but  can't  help  regarding  England  as  a  dis- 
turber of  the  peace  all  over  the  world,  whenever  the  disturbance  will  bene- 
fit her  trade.  She  doesn't  believe  in  monopoly,  except  where  she  can  be 
the  monopolist,  and  for  that  reason  she  is  jealous  of  the  way  we  Russians 
are  trying  the  monopoly  business  for  ourselves.  We  have  the  trade  of  ten 
millions  of  Asiatics :  no  great  thing  to  be  sure,  but  we  don't  propose  to 


RIVERS   OF  TURKESTAN. 


459 


hand  it  over  to  England  just  because  she  wants  it.  We  have  cotton  fac- 
tories and  other  manufacturing  establishments,  as  England  has,  and  the 
more  markets  we  can  have  the  better  it  will  be  for  us." 

The  gentleman  paused,  and  gave  Fred  an  opportunity  to  ask  if  there 
were  any  navigable  rivers  in  Turkestan,  and,  if  so,  what  they  were. 

"  There  is  no  navigation  worth  the  name,"  was  the  reply.  "  Central 
Asia  contains  only  two  rivers  of  any  importance — the  Oxus  and  the  Jax- 


WINTER    CAMP   IN   TURCOMANIA. 


artes.  The  Oxus  is  sometimes  called  the  Amoo  Darya,  or  Jihoon,  and  the 
Jaxartes  the  Syr  Darya.  The  Oxus  is  the  largest ;  it  rises  in  the  Pamir 
district,  in  a  lake  fifteen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  and  in  the  upper 
part  of  its  course  receives  several  tributary  rivers  that  drain  Bokhara  and 
the  north-eastern  part  of  Afghanistan.  It  is  about  twelve  hundred  miles 
long,  and  flows  into  the  Aral  Sea;  for  the  last  eight  hundred  miles  of  its 
course  it  is  navigable  for  small  steamboats,  but  its  mouth  is  divided  into 
so  many  shallow  channels  that  boats  have  great  difficulty  in  entering  it. 
The  Russians  have  half  a  dozen  steamers  on  the  Aral  Sea,  and  as  many 
more  light-draught  steamboats  for  navigating  the  Oxus." 

"  Haven't  I  read  that  the  Oxus  formerly  emptied   into  the   Caspian 
Sea  ?"  said  Frank. 


400 


THE   HOY  TEAVELLEES  IX  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


"Quite  likely  you  have,"  said  Mr.  Ivanovich, " as  there  is  little  doubt 
that  such  was  the  case.  The  old  bed  of  the  Oxus  can  be  distinctly  traced, 
and  geographers  are  generally  agreed  that  the  river  entered  the  Caspian 
by  three  mouths.  Ptolemy  and  Strabo  both  state  distinctly  that  in  their 
time  the  Oxus  flowed  into-  the  Caspian,  and  formed  the  principal  trade- 
route  between  Europe  and  Asia." 

"  How  came  it  to  change  its  course  ?" 

"Much  of  the  region  traversed  by  the  Oxus  is  a  desert,  and  the  only 
agriculture  possible  there  is  by  irrigation.     In  order  to  increase  the  area 


TURCOMAN    IRRIGATING    WHEEL. 


under  cultivation,  the  Turcomans  built  dams  that  turned  the  Oxus  in  the 
direction  of  a  vast  plain  which  contains  the  Aral  Sea.  Since  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  country  by  the  Russians,  it  has  been  proposed  to  return  the 
Oxus  to  its  ancient  bed,  and  bring  it  down  to  the  Caspian.  It  is  not  like- 
ly that  this  will  be  done,  as  the  result  would  be  that   the   whole  lower 


CROSSING  AN  ASIATIC   RIVER. 


401 


402 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMHRE. 


course  of  the  Oxns,  where  there  are  many  flourishing  farms  and  gardens, 
would  again  become  a  desert  waste.  Much  less  water  flows  through  the 
Oxus  than  in  former  times,  and  the  engineers  who  have  studied  the  ques- 
tion do  not  think  the  river  would  be  navigable  when  returned  to  its  an- 
cient bed. 

"The  other  river  of  Central  Asia,  the  Jaxartes,  or  Syr  Darya,  is  small- 
er than  the  Oxus,  and  about  eleven  hundred  miles  long.  It  rises  in  the 
Pamir  region,  and  empties,  like  the  Oxus,  into  the  Aral  Sea.  Its  course  is 
generally  parallel  to  the  Oxus,  and  in  the  same  way  it  fertilizes  a  large  area 


OlASHKHWT 

OIIOKA.JT 


oCABULi 


MAP 
OF  THE 

EUSSO-AFGHAN 
REGION. 


oCAKDAHAR 


SCALE  OF 
ENGLISH  MILES  J 


100     150     100 


oQUETTA 


of  what  would  otherwise  be  desert.  Its  volume  has  greatly  diminished  in 
the  last  few  centuries,  and  is  even  known  to  be  considerably  less  than  it 
was  sixty  or  eighty  years  ago.  The  Oxus  enters  the  southern  end  of  the 
Aral  Sea,  while  the  Jaxartes  comes  in  considerably  farther  to  the  north. 
The  diversion  of  these  two  rivers  would  probably  result  in  drying  up  the 
Aral  Sea,  a  shallow  body  of  water  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long  by 
half  as  many  wide." 

Fred  asked  if  the  Caspian  was  higher  or  lower  than  the  Aral  Sea. 

"  They  are   of  the  same  level,  or  nearly  so,"  was  the  reply,  "  though 


RAILWAY  TRAVEL  IN   CENTRAL  ASIA.  403 

some  engineers  say  the  Aral  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  higher 
than  the  Caspian,  and  the  indications  are  that  the  two  seas  were  formerly 
connected.  The  whole  plain  of  Turcomania  is  thought  to  have  been  at 
one  time  an  inland  sea.  At  its  southern  extremity  the  Aral  is  bordered 
by  an  immense  marsh,  and  it  is  through  this  marsh  that  the  Oxus  dis- 
charges its  waters. 

"Khiva  stands  near  the  Oxus,  in  the  midst  of  beautiful  gardens,  all 
nourished  by  the  water  from  the  river.  Khiva,  Bokhara,  Samarcand,  and 
Kokan  would  become  masses  of  ruins  if  the  Oxus  and  Jaxartes  were  dried 
up,  and  you  may  be  sure  the  Russians  will  give  the  subject  careful  con- 
sideration before  disturbing  the  course  of  the  waters.  Nowhere  in  the 
world  will  you  see  more  careful  irrigation  than  along  these  rivers,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  Nile  valley.  All  through  Central  Asia  the  only 
possible  agriculture  is  upon  the  watercourses,  or  where  there  are  never- 
failing  wells.  Canals  and  irrigation-wheels  are  everywhere,  and  you  will 
often  see  evidences  of  excellent  engineering  abilities  in  the  construction 
of  some  of  the  artificial  water-ways. 

"  General  Annenkoff,  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  construction  of  the 
Trans-Caspian  Railway,  has  a  scheme  for  creating  a  new  oasis,  capable  of 
supporting  two  hundred  thousand  people,  near  the  disputed  boundary  be- 
tween Turkestan  and  Afghanistan.  He  proposes  to  turn  one  of  the  trib- 
utaries of  the  Oxus  for  that  purpose,  and  is  confident  that  he  can  make  a 
fertile  area  of  several  hundred  square  miles  by  carefully  utilizing  the  wa- 
ter of  the  stream." 

On  landing  at  MiHiailovsk,  our  friends  were  introduced  to  several  Rus- 
sian officers,  some  of  whom  had  been  in  America,  and  who  heartily  wel- 
comed the  trio  of  travellers  from  that  far-away  land.  They  were  invited 
to  the  club-house,  where  they  were  lodged  and  cared  for;  the  town  did 
not  boast  an  hotel  other  than  a  very  indifferent  khan,  which  had  all  the 
discomforts  of  the  Orient,  with  none  of  its  good  points. 

Frank  and  Fred  endeavored  to  find  the  time-table  of  the  railway,  with 
a  view  to  making  an  excursion  into  Turkestan.  Their  inquiries  were  re- 
warded with  the  information  that  there  was  no  regular  time  for  running 
the  trains,  as  the  business  transacted  on  the  line  was  nearly  all  of  a  mili- 
tary character.  But  a  train  was  to  leave  in  the  morning  for  Kizil  Arvat, 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  miles,  and  if  they  cared  to  make  the  journey 
they  were  at  liberty  to  do  so. 

Finding  they  would  have  time  to  go  to  Kizil  Arvat  and  return  before 
the  departure  of  the  steamer  for  Baku,  they  accepted  the  invitation,  which 
included  the  Doctor  as  well  as  themselves.     Early  the  next  morning  the 


4:64 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


train  rolled  out  from  the  station ;  it  consisted  of  a  locomotive  and  ten  or 
twelve  carriages.  One  carriage  contained  the  officers  of  a  regiment  of  in- 
fantry  that  filled  the  remaining  vehicles ;  the  regiment  was  bound  for  the 
frontier,  where  England  and  Russia  have  latterly  been  discussing  the  ques- 


#iit 


TURCOMAN    WOMAN    SPINNING. 


tion  of  the  boundary,  and  a  discussion  of  this  kind  is  materially  assisted 
by  the  presence  of  soldiers. 

We  will  refer  to  Fred's  account  of  the  railway  journey  in  Turkestan. 

"We  were  invited  to  seats  in  the  carriage  where  the  officers  were  rid- 
in"-.  They  did  everything  to  make  our  journey  agreeable,  and  we  were 
indebted  to  them  for  a  great   deal   of  information  about   Central  Asia. 


SCARCITY   OF  WATER. 


405 


Some  of  them  had  been  to  the  British  frontier,  and  one  had  visited  Cabul, 
Herat,  and  Candahar. 

"  The  route  of  the  railway  was  partly  across  the  desert,  and  partly 
along  the  valleys  of  two  or  three  small  rivers  of  no  special  importance  ex- 
cept for  their  usefulness  in  supplying  water  for  the  line.  For  a  consider- 
able distance  the  line  lies  near  the  Etrek,  a  river  that  was  of  great  use  to 
General  Skobeleff  in  his  advance  upon  Geok  Tepe.  At  times  it  is  simply 
a  dry  channel,  but  water  can  generally  be  found  by  diggings  few  feet  in 
the  sand  that  forms,  in  the  rainy  season,  the  bed  of  the  stream. 

"The  country  is  a  plain,  with  here  and  there  a  few  hills  not  worthy  to 
be  called  mountains.     Sometimes  the  plain  is  flat  for  a  long  distance,  and 


TILLAGE    OF   TURCOMAN    TENTS. 


again  it  is  undulating  like  the  rolling  prairies  of  our  Western  States.  Veg- 
etation is  scantj'  at  best,  and  a  large  part  of  the  country  is  absolutely  des- 
ert. The  great  need  of  Central  Asia  is  water.  If  a  million  springs  could 
be  opened,  all  giving  a  copious  flow  like  some  of  the  great  springs  in  our 
Rocky  Mountains,  the  next  ten  or  twenty  years  would  see  a  great  change 
in  the  aspect  of  Turkestan. 

"  One  of  the  officers  told  me  that  the  country  was  of  the  same  general 
character  all  the  way  to  the  frontier  of  Afghanistan.  'The  railway  can 
be  extended  without  trouble,'  said  he,  '  as  far  as  we  wish  to  carry  it. 
There's  not  an  obstacle  at  all  formidable  to  railway  engineers.' 

"  I  asked,  with  some  hesitation,  where  they  wished  to  carry  their  rail- 
way line.     I  knew  the  subject  was  not  disconnected  with  politics,  but  the 

30 


466 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


question  was  innocent  enough,  and  he  could  answer  it  as  lie  chose,  and 
probably  did. 

"'We  built  the  line,'  said  he,  'first  to  Kizil  Arvat,  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  miles,  and  then  extended  it  to  Askabad,  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles  farther.  We  are  now  building  to  Sarakhs,  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
fiVe  miles  from  Askabad,  and  there  we  may  stop.  Perhaps  it  will  be 
pushed  on  to  Herat,  two  hundred  and  two  miles  from  Sarakhs,  but  it  can- 


10  20  :*n  w  50  Go   70  w)  K  1O0  . 


THE    NEW    RUSSO-AFGHAN    FRONTIER. 


not  be  under  the  present  political  situation.  Afghanistan  is  under  English 
control.  You  know  the  English  Government  gives  the  Ameer  of  that 
country  a  large  annual  payment  of  money  for  his  friendship;  and  until  we 
are  willing  to  give  a  higher  bribe  he  is  not  likely  to  permit  us  to  build 
railways  in  his  territory. 

"  '  From  Sarakhs  our  next  line  will  be  to  Merv,  the  rich  oasis  that  came 
under  Russian  control  a  few  years  ago,  or  possibly  Merv  may  be  reached 
by  a  branch  from  Askabad.  Perhaps  there  will  one  day  be  a  line  from 
Merv  to  Samarcand  and  Bokhara,  but  this  is  far  in  the  future.  From 
Merv  a  railway  may  be  run  along  the  valley  of  the  Murghab  to  Herat ; 
but  it  is  not  a  direct  route,  and  we  are  much  more  likely  to  reach  Herat 
by  way  of  Sarakhs,  along  the  valley  of  the  Heri-Kud.     Whichever  way 


RUSSIAN  RAILWAY  ENTERPRISES.  467 

we  take,  the  building  of  the  road  would  not  be  at  all  difficult.  The 
Murghab  route  has  the  disadvantage  of  being  longer  than  that  of  the 
Heri-Rud,  but  its  cost  per  mile  would  be  much  less,  as  the  conntry  is. 
smoother. 

" '  I  suppose,'  he  continued,  '  that  there  is  a  sort  of  race  between  Eng- 
land and  Russia  to  get  to  Herat  with  a  railway.  England  is  building 
north  from  India,  while  we  are  building  south  from  the  Caspian.  The 
terminal  points  of  the  two  lines  are  now  less  than  eight  hundred  miles 
apart,  and  it  is  very  evident  that  the  English  and  Russian  locomotives  will 
be  whistling  in  the  hearing  of  each  other,  and  blowing  steam  in  each  oth- 
er's faces,  within  the  next  few  years.* 

"  'If  we  were  not  confronted  by  diplomacy  we  could  reach  Herat  con- 
siderably in  advance  of  the  English,  as  we  have  the  shorter  and  easier  line 
to  build  to  get  there.  But  with  our  scrupulous  regard  for  treaties  and 
agreements,  we  may  be  hindered  in  our  railway  building,  and  have  the 
mortification  of  seeing  our  rivals  there  ahead  of  us.  The  English  consider 
Herat  the  key  to  India,  and  are  determined  that  we  shall  not  possess  it. 
We  don't  care  much  for  it  anyway,  but  are  perfectly  willing  to  place  it 
beneath  the  sheltering  wings  of  the  Black  Eagle. 


*  Early  in  1886  the  Central  Asian  Railway  was  completed  to  Kaakha,  a  distance  of  590 
versts  (390  miles)  from  Mikhailovsk.  The  line  was  completed  to  Merv  in  April,  1886,  and 
the  echoes  of  the  Turcoman  oasis  were  awakened  by  the  shriek  of  the  locomotive.  At  the 
latest  advices  work  was  being  pushed  between  Merv  and  Chardjuya,  on  the  Oxus,  and 
General  Annenkoff  had  promised  to  complete  the  line  to  the  banks  of  the  historic  river  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  year.  The  Emir  of  Bokhara  has  agreed  to  provide  the  material  for  a 
bridge  across  the  Oxus,  and  the  Russian  engineers  have  completed  the  survey  of  the  line 
as  far  as  Samarcand.  It  is  hoped  that  the  railway  will  reach  Bokhara  and  Samarcaud  by 
the  end  of  1887.  The  entire  railway  as  planned  will  extend  from  Mikhailovsk,  on  the  Cas- 
pian, by  way  of  Kizil  Arvat  (245  versts),  Askabad  (445  versts),  Kaakha  (590  versts),  to  Merv 
(770  versts,  or  510  miles):  thence  to  Chardjuya,  on  the  Amoo  Darya  (Oxus),  and  Bokhara 
to  Samarcand,  a  total  distance  of  1065  versts  (700  miles),  of  which  no  less  than  five-sev- 
enths is  practically  now  completed.  All  the  rails,  sleepers,  and  rolling  material  for  the 
Trans-Caspian  Railway  are  supplied  from  the  Russian  Crown  depots.  Apart  from  this, 
the  total  cost  of  making  the  line  from  the  Caspian  to  the  Oxus  is  estimated  at  12,250,000 
roubles,  or  about  16,000  roubles  per  verst. 

The  Russians  have  a  grand  scheme  for  another  line  of  railway  through  Asia,  which  was 
originally  proposed  by  M.  de  Lesseps.  The  first  step  would  be  to  complete  the  railway 
connection  along  the  lower  Volga,  between  Tsaritsin  and  Astrachan.  The  Asiatic  line 
would  start  from  Astrachan,  pass  through  Khiva,  Bokhara,  and  Samarcand  into  Chinese 
Turkestan,  where  it  would  touch  Tang-Kissar,  Kashgar,  and  Tarkand,  in  addition  to  other 
cities  and  towns  of  lesser  note.  It  would  skirt  the  shores  of  Lake  Lob,  and  after  descend- 
ing the  valley  of  the  Kan  (Han)  terminate  at  Hankow,  on  the  banks  of  the  Yang-tse- 
Kiang,  six  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  of  China. 


46S 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


'"When  you  are  considering  Sarakhs,'  he  continued,  'remember  that 
there  are  two  places  of  that  name.  Old  Sarakhs  is  a  mass  of  ruins ;  only 
a  single  building  remains,  and  that  is  a  tomb  in  which  the  body  of  Abel  is 
said  to  rest.  Another  tomb  a  few  miles  away  is  known  as  the  tomb  of 
Cain,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Sarakhs.  The  Russians  have  occupied  Old  Sarakhs,  and  will 
establish  a  military  post  there  of  considerable  importance  as  soon  as  the 
railway  is  completed. 

" '  Old  Sarakhs  is  near  the  ITeri-Rud  River,  which  here  forms  a  dividing 
line  between  Persia  and  the  Turcoman  country.     The  Persians  have  built 


OLD    SARAKHS. 


a  town  called  New  Sarakhs  on  their  side  of  the  river,  and  protected  it  by 
a  fort ;  they  keep  a  small  garrison  there,  and  as  we  have  no  quarrel  with 
Persia,  and  are  not  likely  to  have,  it  is  quite  sufficient  for  all  pin-poses  of 
peace. 

" '  I  wish  you  could  go  with  me  through  that  country  and  see  the  ef- 
fect of  the  Turcoman  raiding  system  which  was  continued  through  gener- 
ations,  and  has  only  recently  come  to  an  end.  Centuries  ago  the  valleys  of 
the  Murghab  and  Ileri-Rud  contained  a  large  population,  and  the  same  was 
the  case  over  a  wide  extent  of  country. 

"  'Ride  where  you  will,  you  find  the  traces  of  irrigating  canals  in  great 
number.  In  the  third  century  this  region  was  said  to  contain  a  thousand 
cities,  probably  an  exaggeration,  but  indicative  of  the  dense  population  it 
sustained,  and  might  still  sustain.  In  many  places  the  valleys  of  the  Mur- 
ghab and  Iieri-Rud  are  several  miles  in  width  and  perfectly  flat.  There 
are  ruined  canals  all  over  these  wide  places,  showing  that  they  were  once 
cultivated  ;  they  might  be  cultivated  again  and  rendered  fertile  as  of  old 
by  the  same  system  that  was  once  in  vogue.  The  country  is  a  desert  be- 
cause it  is  not  tilled,  and  it  is  not  tilled  because  it  has  no  inhabitants.    Tur- 


LIFE  AMONG   THE  TURCOMANS. 


469 


coman  raids  Lave  made  the  desolation  by  enslaving,  killing,  or  driving  away 
the  people  that  once  lived  here. 

" '  Since  the  raiding  ceased  the  Sarik  Turcomans,  who  were  formerly 
as  much  addicted  to  it  as  any 
others,  have  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  agriculture.  They  have 
occupied  parts  of  the  Murghab 
Valley  near  Pul-i-Khisti  and 
Ak  Tapa,  where  they  have 
cleared  out  the  old  irrigation 
canals,  set  their  ploughs  and 
other  implements  at  work,  and 
seem  to  be  forgetting  altogeth- 
er their  former  mode  of  life. 
They  have  settled  into  villages, 
but  live  in  kibitkas  in  prefer- 
ence to  houses  of  mud  or  other 
solid  materials.  Considering 
their  recent  subjugation,  they 
are  quite  friendly  with  the 
Russians ;  they  know  we  will 
never  allow  them  to  resume 
their  predatory  life,  but  as  long 
as  they  behave  themselves  they 
will  find  us  to  be  kind  masters, 
and  our  military  and  engineer- 
ing work  in  their  country  will 
assure  them  a  good  market  for 
their  surplus  produce.' 

'!  I  asked  the  gentleman  to 
tell  me  the  difference  between 
Pul-i-Khisti  and  Pul-i-Khatun, 
which  we  had  read  so  much 
about  in  the  newspapers,  at  the 
time  of  the  conflict  between 
the  Russians  and  Afghans. 

"'Pul-i-Khatun  is  on  the 
Heri-Rud  or  Tejend  River,  a 

few  miles  south  of  Sarakhs.    In  the  Persian  language  "  pul  "  means  bridge, 
and  "khatun"  lady,  so  that  Pul-i-Khatun  may  be  translated  "Bridge  of 


SARIK    TURCOMAN    WOMAN. 


470 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


the  Lady."  The  bridge  that  bears  this  name  is  said  to  have  been  erected 
in  the  time  of  Tamerlane,  the  great  conqueror,  at  the  request  of  one  of 
the  ladies  of  his  family.  It  is  of  brick,  in  six  arches,  and  has  not  been 
repaired  for  a  long  time ;  the  central  arch  is  broken,  but  the  others  are 
in  serviceable  condition. 

" '  Pul-i-Khisti  means  "  Bridge  of  Bricks,"  and  is  over  the  Murghab 
Biver,  where  that  stream  unites  with  the  Kushk.  It  became  famous  as 
the  scene  of  the  fight  between  the  Bussians  and  Afghans,  in  the  early  part 


P0L-I-KHISII    AND    AK    TAI'A. 


of  1885.  Each  party  throws  the  blame  of  the  affair  upon  the  other;  nat- 
urally enough  I  think  the  Afghans  were  at  fault,  but  as  I  may  be  preju- 
diced on  the  subject  it  is  not  worth  while  to  discuss  it.  Pul-i-Khisti  is 
close  to  Penjdeh,  which  is  nothing  more  than  a  mass  of  ruins  where  a 
town  once  stood ;  the  Bussians  may  be  able  to  make  something  out  of  it, 
and  the  next  time  I  go  there  I  shouldn't  be  surprised  to  find  a  strong  fort. 
" '  The  English  wanted  to  make  the  boundary  so  that  it  would  leave 
Benjdch  in  the  possession  of  the  Afghans,  but  we  persuaded  them  that 
the  place  would  be  safer  in  our  hands  than  theirs.  You  will  find  on  the 
map  the  boundaries  as  they  have  been  arranged,  and  as  long  as  England 


THE   ROAD   TO   HERAT. 


471 


keeps  to  her  agreement  there  is  not  likely  to  be  any  trouble.  Of  course 
we  shall  faithfully  abide  by  our  promises,  but  one  can  never  tell  when  the 
treacherous  Afghans  will  cross  the  boundaries  and  make  depredations  upon 
our  peaceful  subjects.  Then  we  will  defend  our  rights j  it  is  for  such  de- 
fence we  have  built  the  railway  on  which  you  are  now  travelling,  and  we 
shall  maintain  a  good-sized  force  of  troops  on  or  near  the  frontier.  By 
means  of  our  railways  and  steamers  we  can  get  to  the  frontier  a  great  deal 
quicker  than  England  can  possibly  reach  it  from  her  capital ;  and  if  she 
chooses  to  make  war  on  us  she  wiH  find  us  ready. 

"'With  the  Vladikavkaz  Railway  finished  to  Petrovsk  on  the  Caspian, 
and  the  Trans-Caspian  Railway  completed  to  Sarakhs,  we  could  bring 
troops  from  Moscow  to  the  latter  point  inside  of  a  week.     There  would 


only  be  the  crossing  of  the  Caspian,  which  is  little  more  than  a  ferry,  be- 
tween Petrovsk  and  Mikhailovsk,  to  break  the  continuous  journey  by  rail. 
From  Sarakhs  to  Herat,  as  I  before  said,  is  about  two  hundred  miles,  which 
could  be  covered  in  two  or  three  weeks  by  a  Russian  army.  We  think  we 
can  get  to  Herat  more  quickly  than  England  can  in  case  of  war,  but  let  us 
all  hope  that  the  necessity  for  the  experiment  may  never  come.' " 

Fred  thought  there  was  a  confident  smile  on  the  face  of  the  Russian  as 
he  pronounced  the  above  words.  It  was  very  evident  that  the  Russians 
in  Central  Asia  had  an  abiding  faith  in  their  ability  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves in  case  of  a  conflict  with  England. 


472 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


While  conversing  with  another  officer,  the  youths  ascertained  that  he 
had  accompanied  the  first  Russian  expedition  to  the  Merv  Oasis,  or  rather 
the  expedition  that  converted  that  stronghold  of  the  Turcomans  into  Rus- 
sian territory,  with  the  loss  of  only  one  man.  The  gentleman  said  the 
( )asis  was  watered  by  the  Murghab,  which  practically  terminated  there ; 
the  river  was  diverted  into  a  great  number  of  little  streams,  and  the  coun- 
try included  in  these  streams 
formed  the  Oasis.  The  Mer- 
vis  were  more  peaceable  than 
their  fellow  Turcomans,  but 
very  jealous  of  strangers,  and 
not  willing  to  admit  anybody 
to  their  limited  territory. 

They  had  a  fort  larger  and 
stronger  than  the  one  against 
which  Skobeleff's  arm}*  was 
nearly  shattered  to  pieces  at 
Geok  Tepe ;  it  was  an  enclos- 
ure with  high,  thick  walls  of 
mud,  and  large  enough  to  hold 
the  whole  population  with 
their  flocks  and  herds.  The 
Oasis  is  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  from  Aska- 
bad  and  ninety  from  the  near- 
est point  on  the  Tejend  ;  it  was 
formerly  incorporated  with 
the  surrounding  provinces  of 
Turkestan,  but  for  many  years 
has  been  independent. 
"  We  wanted  Merv,"  said  the  Russian  officer  to  whom  allusion  has  just 
been  made,  "but  we  didn't  want  to  fight  for  it;  so  we  resorted  to  diplo- 
macy, and  through  the  skill  of  General  Komaroff  and  Colonel  Alikhanoff, 
aided  by  a  few  others  who  were  in  the  secret,  we  came  into  peaceful  pos- 
session of  the  place.  I  have  no  doubt  the  Mervis  are  all  very  glad  we  are 
there,  now  that  the  thing  has  been  done. 

"Colonel  Alikhanoff  went  from  Askabad  to  Merv  in  company  with  a 
Russian  merchant  who  had  a  dozen  camels  laden  with  goods.  They  re- 
mained there  a  fortnight,  and  then  returned  safely,  accompanied  by  several 
deleirates  from  the  Mervis  who  wished  to  consult  with  the  Russian  coin- 


COLONKL     ALIKHANOFF. 


FROM  MEEV  TO   HERAT.  4(3 

mander  at  Askabad  about  some  camels  that  bad  been  stolen  from  them  by 
the  Persians.  The  delegates  were  kindly  received,  and  went  home  with 
a  favorable  report  which  ultimately  led  to  the  occupation  of  Merv  by  a 
small  force  of  Russian  cavalry  and  infantry.  A  fort  was  built,  and  a  ba- 
zaar opened  for  the  exchange  of  Russian  goods  for  the  products  of  the 
Oasis,  and  ever  since  then  the  Russians  and  Mervis  have  been  on  terms  of 
friendship.  Of  course  there  were  some  of  the  Mervis  who  opposed  the 
advent  of  our  soldiers,  but  they  are  now  our  earnest  advocates,  and  would 
be  the  last  to  ask  us  to  leave.    ■ 

"  Merv  is  about  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  Herat,  and  if  we 
should   ever  be    obliged   to  march   against  that  Afghan    stronghold,  the 


THE    GREAT    HIGHWAY    OF    CENTRAL    ASIA. 


Oasis  will  be  an  excellent  point  to  start  from  after  accumulating  the  neces- 
sary stores  and  material  of  war.  It  promises  to  be  a  good  centre  of  trade, 
and  its  importance  was  easy  to  comprehend  when  the  English  Go'vernment 
made  such  a  fuss  as  it  did  about  our  taking  it. 

"  Before  we  were  established  there,"  continued  the  officer,  "  an  English 
newspaper  correspondent,  Edmund  O'Donovan,  went  to  Merv  by  way  of 


474  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

Persia,  and  lived  in  the  Oasis  for  five  months.  At  first  the  people  treated 
him  coldly,  but  he  gradually  won  their  confidence  and  convinced  them  of 
his  friendliness.  They  made  him  one  of  their  elders,  and  appointed  him 
to  a  place  on  the  Governing  Council ;  he  has  told  the  story  of  his  resi- 
dence among  these  strange  people  in  an  interesting  volume  entitled  'The 
Merv  Oasis.' 

"  One  of  the  most  remarkable  journeys  ever  made  on  the  Turcoman 
steppes,"  said  the  gentleman  in  conclusion,  "  was  accomplished  by  another 
newspaper  correspondent,  an  American  named  MaeGahan,  during  the  cam- 
paign against  Khiva  in  1S73.  Without  an  escort,  and  accompanied  only 
by  a  servant  and  two  guides,  he  started  from  Fort  Peroffsky,  on  the  Jax- 
artes  or  Syr  Darya  River,  near  the  Aral  Sea,  to  overtake  General  Kauf- 
mann's  army,  that  had  gone  to  the  attack  of  Khiva.  Its  exact  whereabouts 
were  unknown ;  he  had  eight  or  ten  days  of  desert  travel  before  him,  and 
if  he  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Turcomans  or  Kirghese  who  roam 
over  the  desert,  his  fate  would  have  been  certain  death. 

"  The  Russians  at  Fort  Peroffsky  refused  to  allow  him  to  start,  as  they 
considered  it  impossible  for  him  to  make  the  journey,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  slip  out  of  the  place  in  the  night.  He  had  several  narrow  escapes,  but 
managed  to  get  through  all  right  and  join  General  Kaufmann's  column  just 
as  the  lighting  before  Khiva  began.  The  officers  told  him  the  chances  of 
his  settiiifr  across  the  desert  with  his  life  were  not  more  than  one  in  a  bun- 
dred.  He  remained  with  our  army  till  the  end  of  the  Khivan  campaign, 
and  every  officer  who  knew  him  felt  that  he  had  lost  a  personal  friend 
when  the  news  of  MacGahan's  death  came  a  few  years  later.  The  story  of 
his  adventures  is  told  in  his  book — '  Campaigning  on  the  Oxus  and  the 
Fall  of  Khiva.' 

"  In  1S75  a  similar  journey  was  made  by  Captain  Burnaby,  an  English 
officer  of  the  Guards.  He  has  given  an  admirable  account  of  his  experi- 
ence in  a  book  entitled,  'A  Ride  to  Khiva.'" 

"Conversation  such  as  this,"  writes  Fred  in  his  journal,  "beguiled  the 
tediousness  of  the  ride  over  the  flat  and  desolate  region  through  which 
the  railway  passes.  At  the  few  oases  where  we  stopped,  we  saw  little  vil- 
lages of  Turcomans,  but  they  were  so  much  alike  that  the  descriptions  you 
have  already  read  will  answer  for  them  all.  At  Kizil  Arvat  we  found  an 
oasis  containing  altogether  half  a  dozen  square  miles  of  tillable  land,  on 
which  were  several  Turcoman  villages,  and  a  Russian  town  of  perhaps  a 
thousand  inhabitants. 

"We  call  the  town  Russian  from  the  flag  that  waves  over  it,  rather 
than   from   the  nationality  of  those  who  live  in  it.     They  are  Russians, 


POPULATION   OP  KIZIL  AKVAT. 


475 


TURCOMAN    FARM-YARD, 


Turcomans,  Ivirghese,  Persians,  Armenians,  and  Jews,  and  I  don't  know 
how  many  other  races  and  kinds  of  people.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  com- 
merce, mostly  in  the  hands  of  Armenians  and  Russians,  but  much  less  than 
when  the  railway  terminated  here.  The  business  of  Merv  and  the  Penjdeh 
district  is  at  the  end  of  the  railway  ;  in  this  respect  the  commerce  of  Cen- 
tral Asia  is  much  like  that  of  our  far-western  country,  and  changes  its  base 
with  each  change  of  the  means  of  transport. 

"  There  is  a  fort  at  Kizil  Arvat,  and  also  a  bazaar,  and  we  are  told  that 
Askabad  is  similarly  provided.      Whenever  the  Russians  establish  them- 


476 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


THE   RETURN   TO  MIKHAILOVSK.  477 

selves  in  any  part  of  Turkestan,  they  build  a  fort  and  a  bazaar  side  by  side. 
Hardly  has  the  army  pitched  its  tents  before  the  shops  are  opened  and  the 
natives  are  invited  to  come  in  and  trade.  All  who  come  are  kindly 
treated  ;  in  a  little  time  whatever  hesitation  the  natives  may  have  possessed 
is  gone,  and  the  cheapness  of  the  goods  on  sale  converts  the  former  ene- 
mies into  friends.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Russia  thoroughly  understands 
the  Asiatic  nature,  and  deals  with  it  accordingly. 

''Most  of  our  return  journey  to  Mikhailovsk  was  made  in  the  night, 
which  we  did  not  specially  regret,  where  so  much  of  the  route  was  through 
the  uninteresting  desert.  We  were  told  that  when  the  railway  was  started, 
it  was  intended  to  make  a  narrow-gauge  line  that  would  be  taken  up  as  soon 
as  the  capture  of  Geok  Tepe  had  been  accomplished.  But  the  undertaking 
had  not  gone  far  before  the  plans  were  changed  and  a  well-built  railway, 
on  the  standard  gauge  of  Russia,  was  the  result.  The  line  is  well  equipped 
with  cars,  and  at  no  distant  day  will  form  a  link  in  the  overland  route  from 
England  to  India. 

"  When  the  Russian  and  Indian  lines  form  a  connection  near  Herat  or 
Candahar,  the  Vladikavkaz  Railway  will  be  completed  to  Petrovsk,  on  the 
Casjnan.  The  traveller  may  then  go  from  London  to  Bombay  or  Calcutta 
in  nine  or  ten  days.  His  entire  journey  will  be  made  by  rail,  with  the 
exception  of  the  passages  of  the  English  channel  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  the 
former  recjiiiring  two  hours,  and  the  latter  an  entire  day.  Russia  is  al- 
ready talking  of  an  extension  of  the  line  from  Tsaritsin,  along  the  lower 
Volga  and  around  the  northern  end  of  the  Caspian  to  a  connection  with 
the  Trans-Caspian  Railway.  Should  this  line  be  made,  the  journey  to  India 
would  be  wholly  a  land  route,  with  the  exception  of  '  The  Silver  Streak,* 
between  Dover  and  Calais." 

While  our  friends  are  musing  on  the  possibilities  of  the  railway  to  In- 
dia, and  its  benefits  to  commerce  and  civilization,  they  have  recrossed  the 
Caspian  and  are  once  more  in  the  Petrolia  of  Europe.  And  now  behold 
them  seated  in  a  train  of  the  Trans-Caucasian  Railway  for  a  ride  to  Tiflis 
and  the  Black  Sea. 

A  letter  in  the  New  York  Herald  of  April  19, 1886,  says  : 

"  The  Russians  have  established  a  military  and  naval  station  at  Novi  Golfe,  on  the  Cas- 
pian, twenty-two  versts  north-west  of  Mikhailovsk,  and  connected  it_  with  the  latter  point 
by  railway,  In  case  of  war  with  England,  the  Russians  are  prepared  to  strike  heavy  blows 
in  Asia.  They  have  two  army  corps  in  the  Caucasus,  and  another  in  Turkestan  ready  for 
service  on  their  south-eastern  frontier.  The  vessels  of  the  Kavkas  and  Mercury  Steamship 
Company,  Noble's  naphtha  'fleet,  and  the  Greek  and  Armenian  vessels  on  the  Caspian 
(which  all  fly  the  Russian  flag),  would  be  immediately  pressed  into  the  service.  The  Rus- 
sians believe  that,  barring  bad  weather,  they  could,  with  these  steamers  and  a  number  of 


478 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS    IN   THE    RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


1 


RUSSIAN   TROOPS   IN  CENTRAL   ASIA. 


479 


sailing-vessels  in  tow,  transport  sixty  thousand  men  across  the  Caspian  from  Astrachan, 
Baku,  and  Petrovsk  to  Novi  Golfe  and  Mikhailovsk  in  three  days. 

"The  Russians  would  thus  dispose  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  men- 
Army  of  the  Caucasus,  sixty  thousand;  Turkestan,  thirty  thousand;  and  fifteen  thousand 
Turcoman  auxiliaries.  These  latter  will  supply  the  advance  of  the  Russian  columns  head- 
ing southward  from  Askabad  and  Merv. 

"  The  Russians  have  shown  great  tact  and  cleverness  in  the  management  of  their  Tur- 
coman subjects.  There  is  at  Merv  a  skeleton  army,  or  cadre,  of  three  hundred  Turcomans, 
under  the  command  of  a  Cossack  officer  named  Kalotine.  Of  the  three  hundred,  one  hun- 
dred are  from  Merv,  one  hundred  are  Tekkes,  and  the  remainder  from  other  tribes.  These 
men  (irregular  horse)  remain  in  the  service  six  months.  During  that  time  they  are  paid 
twenty-five  roubles  a'rnonth,  and  at  its  expiration  are  discharged  with  the  rank  of  sergeant, 
but  remain  liable  to  military  duty  in  time  of  war.  This  plan  was  adopted  to  secure  good 
native  non-commissioned  officers  for  the  fifteen  regiments  of  irregular  cavalry.  The  son 
of  the  last  Khan  of  Merv  is  now  a  Russian  sergeant.  Ten  native  Turcomans  hold  the  rank 
of  captain  in  the  Russian  army,  and  four  that  of  lieutenant,  besides  which  man)7  decora- 
tions have  been  given  to  those  who  took  part  in  Alikhanoff's  foray. 

"The  construction  of  the  railway  between  Askabad  and  Merv  presented  great  diffi- 
culties, on  account  of  the  absence  of  water  in  many  places.  To  overcome  this,  artesian 
wells  were  dug.  The  width  and  current  of  the  Tegend-Bud  necessitated  an  iron  bridge  at 
Kara-Bend.  The  Trans-Caspian  Railway  is  built  upon  the  model  of  the  Trans-Caucasian 
one,  the  stations  on  both  being  near  together,  solidly  built  and  comfortable.  There  are 
sixteen  stations  between  Mikhailovsk  and  Askabad  (four  hundred  and  twenty -two  versts). 


Mikhailovsk  to 

Mallakara 23  Versts. 

Bala  Ischen 35  " 

Aidin 29  " 

Paraval 15  " 

Atchai-Komm 16  " 

Kasandjik 31  " 


Ossausan 16  Versts. 

Ouehak 23 

Kizil-Arvat 30  " 

Koteh ,..  28  " 

Barni 24 

Arolman 30  " 


Baharden 30  Versts. 

Keli-Atta 27 

Geok-Tep<§ 25       " 

Besmeni 21       u 

Askabad 20 


A    NATIVE    TRAVELLER. 


4S0  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IK   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIKE. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

BAKU  TO  TIFLIS.— THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  CAUCASUS.— MOUNTAIN'  TRAVELLING.— 
CROSSING  THE  RANGE.— PETROLEUM  LOCOMOTIVES.— BATOUM  AND  ITS  IMPOR- 
TANCE—TREBIZOND  AND  ERZEROOM.— SEBASTOPOL  AND  THE  CRIMEA.— SHORT 
HISTORY  OF  THE  CRIMEAN  WAR.— RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR  OF  1877-78.— BATTLES 
IN  THE  CRIMEA  AND  SIEGE  OF  SEBASTOPOL— VISITING  THE  MALAKOFF  AND 
REDAN  FORTS-VIEW  OF  THE  BATTLE-FIELDS.— CHARGE  OF  THE  LIGHT  BRI- 
GADE AT  BALAKLAYA— PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SEBASTOPOL.— ODESSA.— AR- 
RIVAL AT  CONSTANTINOPLE  —FRANK'S  DREAM.— THE  END. 

FOR  fifty  miles  after  leaving  Baku  the  railway  follows  the  coast  of  the 
Caspian  Sea  until  it  reaches  Alayat,  where  the  Government  is  estab- 
lishing a  port  that  promises  to  be  of  considerable  importance  at  no  distant 
day.  The  country  is  a  desert  dotted  with  salt  lakes,  and  here  and  there  a 
black  patch  indicating  a  petroleum  spring.  The  only  vegetation  is  the 
camel-thorn  bush,  and  much  of  the  ground  is  so  sterile  that  not  even  this 
hardy  plant  can  grow.  Very  little  rain  falls  here,  and  sometimes  there  is 
not  a  drop  of  it  for  several  months  together. 

At  Alayat  the  railway  turns  inland,  traversing  a  desert  region  where 
there  are  abundant  indications  of  petroleum  ;  in  fact  all  the  way  from 
Baku  to  Alayat  petroleum  could  be  had  for  the  boring,  and  at  the  latter 
place  several  wells  have  been  successfully  opened,  though  the  low  price 
of  the  oil  stands  in  the  way  of  their  profitable  development.  After  leav- 
ing the  desert,  a  region  of  considerable  fertility  is  reached.  The  streams 
flowing  down  from  the  mountains  are  utilized  for  purposes  of  irrigation, 
but  very  rudely;  under  a  careful  system  of  cultivation  the  valley  of  the 
Knia  River,  which  the  railway  follows  to  Tirlis,  could  support  a  large  pop- 
ulation. 

From  Baku  to  Tifiis  by  railway  is  a  distance  of  three  hundred  and 
forty-one  miles,  and  the  line  is  said  to  have  cost,  including  rolling  stock, 
about  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  mile.  In  the  work  on  the  desert  portion 
man}'  of  the  laborers  died  from  the  effects  of  the  extreme  dryness  of  the 
atmosphere.  The  whole  distance  from  Baku  to  Batoum,  on  the  Black 
Sea,  is  five  hundred  and  sixty-one  miles. 


ARRIVAL  AT  TIFLIS. 


481 


Tiflis  is  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
the  point  where  the  railway  reaches  its  greatest  elevation  is  eighteen  hun- 
dred feet  higher,  or  thirty-two  hundred  feet  in  all.  The  grades  are  very 
steep ;  there  is  one  stretch  of  eight  miles  where  it  is  two   hundred  and 


LOOKING    DOWN    ON    IHE    STEPPE. 


forty  feet  to  the  mile,  and  for  a  considerable  distance  it  exceeds  one  hun- 
dred feet  to  the  mile.  It  is  proposed  to  overcome  the  steepest  grade  by  a 
long  tunnel  which  would  reduce  the  highest  elevation  to  little  more  than 
two  thousand  feet. 

Our  friends  reached  Tiflis  in  the  evening,  after  an  interesting  ride,  in 
spite  of  the  monotony  of  the  desert  portion  of  the  route.  Frank  will  tell 
us  the  story  of  their  visit  to  the  famous  city  of  the  Caucasus. 

"  We  were  somewhat  disappointed,"  said  he,  "  with  our  first  view  of 
Tiflis.     We  had  an  impression  that  it  was  i-n  the  centre  of  a  fertile  plain 

31 


4S2  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

surrounded  by  mountains ;  actually  the  ground  on  which  it  stands  is  not 
fertile,  and  the  surroundings  consist  of  brown  hills  instead  of  mountains. 
The  sides  of  the  hills  are  barren,  and  there  would  hardly  be  a  shrub  or 
tree  in  the  city  were  it  not  for  the  system  of  irrigation  which  is  main- 
tained. The  prettiest  part  of  the  city  is  the  quarter  occupied  by  the  Ger- 
mans, where  there  are  rows  and  groups  of  trees  and  a  great  many  luxuri- 
ant gardens.  The  Germans  are  descended  from  some  who  came  here  in 
the  last  century  to  escape  religious  persecution.  Though  born  in  Tiflis 
and  citizens  of  Russia,  in  every  sense  they  preserve  their  language  and  cus- 
toms, and  do  not  mingle  freely  with  their  Muscovite  neighbors. 

"  There  are  about  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  inhabitants  in  Tiflis ; 
nearly  one-third  are  Russians,  rather  more  than  a  third  Armenians,  twenty- 
three  thousand  Georgians,  and  the  rest  are  Germans,  Persians,  and  mixed 
races  in  general.  Most  of  the  business  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Armenians, 
and  many  of  them  are  wealthy  ;  nearly  all  speak  Russian,  and  mingle  with 
the  Russians  more  harmoniously  than  do  any  of  the  others.  The  Persians 
live  in  a  quarter  by  themselves,  and  it  is  by  no  means  the  cleanest  part  of 
the  city.  The  Georgians  preserve  their  dress  and  language,  and,  though 
entirely  peaceful,  are  said  to  maintain  the  same  hatred  to  Russia  as  when 
fighting  to  preserve  their  independence. 

"  Many  of  the  officials  in  the  Caucasus  are  Armenians,  and  some  of  the 
ablest  generals  of  the  Russian  army  belong  to  the  same  race.  Gen.  Loris 
Melikoff  is  an  Armenian,  and  so  are  Generals  Lazareff  and  Tergoukasoff, 
as  well  as  others  of  less  importance.  The  Armenians  have  four  newspa- 
pers at  Tiflis,  and  four  monthly  reviews.  There  are  nearly  a  million  of 
these  people  in  Russia  and  the  Caucasus,  and  their  treatment  is  in  marked 
contrast  to  that  of  the  eight  hundred  thousand  Armenian  subjects  of  Tur- 
key who  have  been  most  cruelly  oj>pressed  by  the  Sultan  and  his  officers. 

"We  had  read  of  the  beauty  of  the  Georgians,  who  used  to  sell  their 
daughters  to  be  the  wives  of  the  Turks,  and  naturally  looked  around  us 
for  handsome  faces.  We  saw  them  among  the  men  as  well  as  among  the 
women  ;  and  we  saw  more  handsome  men  than  women,  perhaps  for  the 
reason  that  men  were  much  more  numerous.  The  Georgians  are  a  fine 
race  of  people,  and  so  are  all  the  natives  of  the  Caucasus.  The  mountain 
air  all  the  world  over  has  a  imputation  for  developing  strength  and  intelli- 
gence among  those  who  breathe  it. 

"  Since  the  occupation  of  Georgia  and  the  other  parts  of  the  Caucasus 
by  Russia,  the  people  are  no  longer  sold  as  slaves  for  Turkish  masters. 
Whatever  may  be  the  faults  of  the  Russian  rule,  it  is  certainly  far  in 
advance  of  that  of  Turkey. 


CAPITAL   OF  THE   CAUCASUS. 


483 


484  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 

"Tiflis  ma}'  be  said  to  be  in  two  parts,  the  old  and  the  new.  The  for- 
mer is  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  its  streets  are  narrow  and  dirty ;  the 
new  part  is  on  higher  ground,  and  has  been  chiefly  built  by  the  Russians 
since  they  obtained  possession  of  the  country.  In  this  part  the  streets  are 
wide,  and  lined  with  many  handsome  buildings ;  in  the  old  part  there  are 
several  Armenian  churches  and  caravansaries,  and  the  greater  portion  of 
the  commerce  is  transacted  there. 

"  We  saw  a  great  many  Russian  soldiers,  and  were  told  that  a  large 
garrison  is  always  maintained  in  Tiflis,  which  is  a  central  point  from 
which  troops  can  be  sent  in  any  direction.  The  Government  offices 
and  the  palace  of  the  Governor-general  are  in  the  Russian  quarter,  and 
of  course  there  are  plenty  of  Russian  churches,  with  their  gilded  domes 
sparkling  in  the  sunlight. 

"We  visited  one  of  the  churches,  and  also  the  Armenian  Cathedral; 
we  tried  to  see  the  interior  of  a  mosque,  but  were  forbidden  admittance 
except  on  payment  of  more  money  than  we  chose  to  give.  We  drove  to 
the  hot  baths,  which  are  situated  just  outside  the  city ;  they  are  largely 
patronized,  and  have  an  excellent  reputation  for  the  relief  of  gout,  rheu- 
matism, and  similar  troubles.  There  are  many  hot  springs  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Tiflis  that  have  been  flowing  for  centuries,  without  any  change 
in  temperature  or  volume. 

"We  wanted  to  go  overland  to  Vladikavkaz,  for  the  sake  of  the  jour- 
ney among  the  Caucasus,  but  our  plans  were  otherwise,  and  we  continued 
by  railway  to  Batoum.  The  mountains  of  this  range  are  as  picturesque 
as  any  we  have  ever  seen.  The  passes  are  like  those  of  the  Alps  or  the 
Sierra  Nevadas,  and  as  we  wound  along  the  line  of  railway  to  the  crest  of 
the  divide,  every  moment  revealed  a  new  and  splendid  picture.  We  had 
distant  views  of  Elburz  and  Ararat,  two  of  the  most  famous  mountains  of 
this  region,  and  greatly  regretted  our  inability  to  visit  the  latter,  which  is 
revered  as  the  resting-place  of  Noah's  Ark.  Mount  Ararat  has  been  as- 
cended by  several  travellers  ;  they  describe  the  journey  as  very  fatiguing, 
but  were  amply  repaid  by  the  magnificent  view  from  the  summit. 

"We  left  Tiflis  dry  and  dusty,  and  the  dry  air  remained  with  ns  till 
we  crossed  the  ridge  and  began  our  descent.  Then  we  entered  the  clouds, 
and  as  we  passed  below  their  level  found  ourselves  in  a  pouring  rain. 
The  western  slope  of  the  Caucasus  is  a  rainy  region,  while  the  eastern  is 
dry.  Baku  has  too  little  rain,  and  Batoum  too  much;  the  western  slope 
is  luxuriant,  while  the  eastern  is  an  arid  desert,  and  the  fertility  of  the 
former  continues  down  to  the  shore  of  the  Black  Sea. 

"  Grapes  and  melons  were  offered  at  every  station,  at  prices  that  were 


A  MOUNTAIN   ROAD. 


485 


THE    PASS    OF   DARIEL,  CAUCASUS. 


4S6 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN  THE    RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


GOVERNOR-GENERAL  OF  THE  CAUCASUS. 


a  marvel  of  cheapness.  Two  cents  would  buy  a  large  melon,  and  the  same 
money  was  gladly  accepted  for  a  hunch  of  grapes  which  would  furnish  a 
dinner  for  a  very  hungry  man.  A  great  deal  of  wine  is  raised  in  this 
region ;  three  hundred  thousand  acres  are  said  to  be  devoted  to  the  eult- 
lire  of  the  grape  in  the  Caucasus,  and  about  forty  million  gallons  of  wine 
are  made  annually.  Wine  is  plenty  and  cheap ;  the  Russians  refuse  to 
drink  the  wine  of  the  Caucasus,  just  as  Californians  affect  to  despise  that 

of  their  own  State.  "We  are  told  that 
a  large  part  of  the  so-called  foreign 
wine  sold  in  Tiflis  and  other  cities 
of  the  Caucasus  is  really  the  product 
of  the  country  under  fictitious  labels. 
"  We  have  already  mentioned  the 
use  of  petroleum  in  the  locomotives 
of  the  Trans- Caucasian  Railway. 
Where  we  stopped  for  fuel  and  water 
the  petroleum-tank  was  side  by  side 
with  the  water-tank,  and  there  was 
no  sign  of  wood-yard  or  coal-heap. 
A  few  minutes  charged  the  tender 
with  petroleum  and  water,  in  sepa- 
rate compartments,  and  then  we  moved  on,  just  as  on  any  other  railway 
line. 

"It  is  delightful  riding  behind  a  petroleum  locomotive,  as  there  are 
neither  cinders  nor  smoke.  After  the  fire  is  started  the  furnace  door  is 
not  opened ;  the  fireman  regards  the  flame  through  a  hole  about  two 
inches  square,  and  regulates  it  just  as  may  be  desired.  They  told  us  that 
steam  could  be  more  evenly  maintained  than  with  coal  or  wood  ;  there 
was  no  excess  of  steam  while  waiting  at  stations,  and  consequently  no 
necessity  for  '  blowing  off.'  AVonder  what  railway  in  America  will  be  the 
first  to  adopt  the  new  fuel? 

"  The  Trans-Caucasian  Railway  was  begun  in  1871 ;  its  starting-point 
was  at  Poti,  which  has  a  poor  harbor  and  stands  in  marshy  ground,  so  that 
fevers  and  malaria  are  altogether  too  common.  In  1S7S  Russia  came  into 
possession  of  Batoum,  which  has  a  good  harbor,  and  immediately  a  branch 
line  sixty  miles  long  was  built  from  that  city  to  connect  with  the  railway. 
Now  nearly  all  the  business  has  gone  to  Batoum.  Poti  is  decaying  very 
rapidly,  but  for  military  reasons  it  is  not  likely  to  be  abandoned. 

"  By  the  treaty  of  Berlin  Batoum  was  made  a  free  port,  and  the  Rus- 
sians were  forbidden  to  fortify  it ;  but  they  have  kept  the  Turkish  fortifica- 


BATOUM   AND   ITS  FORTIFICATIONS. 


48  7 


tions,  and  not  only  kept  them  uninjured,  but  have  repaired  them  whenever 
there  were  signs  of  decay.     On  this  subject  the  following  story  is  told : 

"  The  casemated  fortress  which  commands  the  port  required  to  be 
strengthened  in  certain  points,  and  the  contractors  were  asked  for  estimates 
for  the  work.  One  man  presented  an  estimate  which  be  headed  '  Repairs 
to  Fortifications.'  The  general  commanding  the  district  immediately  sent 
for  the  contractor,  and  said  to  him, 

" '  There  are  no  fortifications  in  Batoum  ;  they  are  forbidden  by  the 
treaty  of  Berlin.  Your  estimates  must  be  for  "  garrison-barrack  repairs." 
Remember  this  in  all  your  dealings  with  the  Government.' 

"  We  were  only  a  few  hours  in  Batoum,  as  we  embraced  the  opportu- 


RCI.NED    FORTRESS    IN    THE    CAUCASUS. 


nity  to  embark  on  one  of  the  Russian  Company's  steamers  for  Sebastopol 
and  Odessa.  Batoum  is  growing  very  rapidly,  and  promises  to  be  a  place 
of  great  importance  in  a  very  few  years.     The  old  town  of  the  Turks  has 


4S8 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


given  place  to  a  new  one ;  the  Russians  Lave  destroyed  nearly  all  the  rick- 
ety old  buildings,  laid  out  whole  streets  and  avenues  of  modern  ones,  ex- 
tended the  piers  running  into  the  sea,  drained  the  marshes  that  formerly 
made  the  place  unhealthy,  and  in  other  ways  have  displayed  their  enter- 
prise. We  were  told  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  smuggling  carried  on 
here,  but  probably  no  more  than  at  Gibraltar,  Hong-Kong,  and  other  free 
ports  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

"  And  now  behold  us  embarked  on  a  comfortable  steamer,  and  bidding 
farewell  to  the  Caucasus.  Our  steamer  belongs  to  the  Russian  Company 
of  Navigation  and  Commerce,  which  has  its  headquarters  at  Odessa;  it 


RUINED    CHURCH    NEAR    BATOUM. 


sends  its  ships  not  only  to  the  ports  of  the  Black  Sea,  but  to  the  Levan- 
tine coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  through  the  Suez  Canal  to  India,  and 
through  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  to  England.  A  line  to  New  York  and 
another  to  China  and  Japan  are  under  consideration  ;  it  is  probable  that 
the  latter  will  be  established  before  the  Trans-Atlantic  one.  The  company 
owns  more  than  a  hundred  steamers,  and  is  heavily  subsidized  by  the  Rus- 
sian Government. " 

The  first  stop  of  the  steamer  was  made  at  Trebizond,  the  most  impor- 
tant port  of  Turkey,  on  the  southern  coast  of  the  Black  Sea.  It  has  a  pop- 
ulation of  about  fifty  thousand,  and  carries  on  an  extensive  commerce  with 
Persia  and  the  interior  of  Asiatic  Turkey.     Latterly  its  commerce  has  suf- 


SIGHTS   IN  TREBIZOND. 


439 


fered  somewhat  by  the  opening  of  the  Caspian  route  from  Russia  to  Per- 
sia, but  it  is  still  very  large. 

Frank  and  Fred  had  two  or  three  hours  on  shore  at  Trebizond,  which 
enabled  them  to  look  at  the  walls  and  gardens  of  this  very  ancient  city, 
Frank  recorded  in  his  note-book  that  Trebizond  was  the  ancient  Trapezi- 
us, and  that  it  was  a  flourishing  city  at  the  time  of  Xenophon's  famous  re- 
treat, which  every  college  boy  has  read  about  in  the  "  Anabasis."  It  was 
captured  by  the  Romans  when  they  defeated  Mithridates.  The  Emperor 
Trajan  tried  to  improve  the  port  by  building  a  mole,  and  made  the  city 
the  capital  of  Cappadocian  Pontus. 

The  Trebizond  of  to-day  consists  of  the  old  and  new  town,  the  former 
surrounded  by  walls  enclosing  the  citadel,  and  the  latter  without  walls  and 


gjltfj 


QUARANTINE    HARBOR,   TREBIZOND. 


extending  back  over  the  hills.  It  has  two  harbors,  both  of  them  unsafe  at 
certain  seasons  of  the  year.  A  few  millions  of  the  many  that  Turkey  has 
spent  in  the  purchase  of  cannon  and  iron-clad  ships  of  war  would  make  the 
port  of  Trebizond  one  of  the  best  on  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea 


490 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IX   THE    RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


Great  numbers  of  camels,  pack-horses,  and  oxen  were  receiving  or  dis- 
charging their  loads  at  the  warehouses  near  the  water-front.  Fred  ascer- 
tained on  inquiry  that  there  were  no  wagon-roads  to  Persia  or  the  interior 
of  Asiatic  Turkey,  but  that  all  merchandise  was  carried  on  the  backs  of 
animals.     One  authority  says  sixty  thousand  pack-horses,  two  thousand 


YIEW    OF    ERZEROOM. 


camels,  three  thousand  oxen,  and  six  thousand  donkeys  are  employed  in 
the  Persian  trade,  and  the  value  of  the  commerce  exceeds  seven  million 
dollars  per  annum. 

"  We  are  only  a  hundred  and  ten  miles  from  Erzeroom,"  said  Fred, 
"the  city  of  Turkish  Armenia,  which  is  well  worth  seeing.  Wouldn't  it 
be  fun  to  go  there  and  have  a  look  at  a  place  that  stands  more  than  a  mile 
in  the  air  ?" 

"  Is  that  really  so  ?"  Frank  asked  ;  "  more  than  a  mile  in  the  air  ?" 

"  Yes,"  replied   his  cousin,  "  Erzeroom  is  six  thousand  two  hundred 

feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  two  hundred   feet  higher  than  the 

plain  which  surrounds  it.     It  had  a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  at  the 

beginning  of  this   century,  but   now  has   about  a  third  of  that  number. 


SHORT  HISTORY   OF  THE   CRIMEAN   WAR.  491 

owing  to  the  emigration  of  the  Armenians  after  the  war  between  Turkey 
and  Russia  in  1829.  It  is  frightfully  cold  in  winter  and  terribly  hot  in 
summer,  but  for  all  that  the  climate  is  healthy." 

"How  long  will  it  take  us  to  get  there  ?" 

"  About  fifty  hours,"  was  the  reply.  "  We  must  go  on  horseback,  but 
can  return  in  forty  hours,  as  the  road  descends  a  great  part  of  the  way 
from  Erzeroom  to  Trebizond.  Isn't  it  strange  that  with  such  an  immense 
trade  as  there  is  between  that  place  and  this — for  the  road  to  Persia  passes 
through  Erzeroom — the  Turks  have  been  content  with  a  bridle-path  in- 
stead of  a  wagon-road,  or,  better  still,  a  railway.     Besides —  " 

Further  discussion  of  the  road  to  Erzeroom  and  the  possibilities  of 
travelling  it  were  cut  short  by  the  announcement  that  it  was  time  to 
return  to  the  steamer.  An  hour  later  our  friends  saw  the  coast  of  Asiatic 
Turkey  fading  in  the  distance,  as  the  steamer  headed  for  Southern  Russia. 

Her  course  was  laid  for  Sebastopol,  the  city  which  is  famous  for  the 
long  siege  it  sustained  during  the  Crimean  war,  and  for  possessing  the 
finest  natural  harbor  on  the  Black  Sea.  Doctor  Bronson  suggested  that 
the  youths  should  dispose  of  the  time  of  the  voyage  by  reading  up  the 
history  of  that  celebrated  war,  and  particularly  of  the  siege  and  capture 
of  Sebastopol. 

The  weather  was  fine  enough  to  tempt  them  to  idleness,  but  Frank 
and  Fred  had  a  rule  that  when  they  had  anything  to  do  they  would  do  it. 
Accordingly  they  busied  themselves  with  the  books  at  their  command,  and 
made  the  following  condensed  account  of  the  contest  of  Russia  with  the 
nations  of  Western  Europe : 

"  The  Crimea  was  conquered  by  Russia  in  the  time  of  Catherine  the 
Great,  and  immediately  after  the  conquest  the  Russians  began  to  fortify 
the  harbor  of  Sebastopol  (Sacred  City).  When  they  went  there  they  found 
only  a  miserable  Tartar  village  called  Akhtiar ;  they  created  one  of  the 
finest  naval  and  military  ports  in  the  world,  and  built  a  city  with  broad 
streets  and  handsome  quays  and  docks.  In  1850  it  had  a  popidation  of 
about  fifty  thousand,  which  included  many  soldiers  and  marines,  together 
with  workmen  employed  in  the  Government  establishments. 

"  In  1850  there  was  a  dispute  between  France  and  Russia  relative  to 
the  custody  of  the  holy  places  in  Palestine ;  there  had  been  a  contention 
concerning  this  matter  for  several  centuries,  in  which  sometimes  the 
Greek  Church  and  sometimes  the  Latin  had  the  advantage.  In  1S50,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Turkey,  a  mixed  commission  was  appointed  to  consider 
the  dispute  and  decide  upon  it. 

"  The  Porte,  as  the  Turkish  Government  is  officially  designated,  issued 


492 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


in  March,  1S52,  a  decree  that  the  Greek  Church  should  be  confirmed  in 
the  rights  it  formerly  held,  and  that  the  Latins  could,  not  claim  exclusive 
possession  of  any  of  the  holy  places.     It  allowed  them  to  have  a  key  to  tlie 


TURKISH    AUTHORITY. 


Church  of  the  Xativity  at  Bethlehem,  and  to  certain  other  buildings  of 
minor  importance. 

"  If  you  want  to  know  how  the  Christian  churches  are  now  quarrelling 
about  the  sacred  places  in  the  East,  read  Chapters  XXII.,  XXIIL,  and 
XXIY.  of  '  The  Boy  Travellers  in  Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land.' 

"  France  accepted  the  decision,  though  she  did  not  like  it ;  Russia  con- 
tinued to  demand  that  the  Latin  monks  should  be  deprived  of  their  keys, 
and  finally  insisted  that  the  Czar  should  have  a  protectorate  over  the  Greek 


SIEGE   OF  SEBASTOPOL.  493 

Christians  in  Turkey.  The  Porte  said  such  a  protectorate  would  interfere 
with  its  own  authority,  and  refused. the  demand;  thereupon  the  Russian 
Minister  left  Constantinople  on  the  21st  of  May,  1853. 

"  This  may  be  considered  the  beginning  of  the  war  between  Russia  and 
Turkey,  though  there  was  no  fighting  for  several  months. 

"  France  came  to  the  aid  of  Turkey ;  England  came  to  the  aid  of  Tur- 
key and  France.  Representatives  of  England,  France,  Austria,  and  Prus- 
sia met  at  Vienna  and  agreed  upon  a  note  which  Russia  accepted;  Turkey 
demanded  modifications  which  Russia  refused ;  Turkey  declared  war 
against  Russia  on  the  5th  of  October,  and  Russia  declared  war  against 
Turkey  on  the  1st  of  November. 

"A  Turkish  fleet  of  twelve  ships  was  lying  at  Sinope,  a  port  on  the 
southern  shore  of  the  Black  Sea.  On  the  30th  of  November  the  Russians 
sent  a  fleet  of  eleven  ships  from  Sebastopol  which  destroyed  the  Turkish 
fleet,  all  except  one  ship  that  carried  the  news  to  Constantinople.  Then 
the  allied  fleets  of  the  French  and  English  entered  the  Black  Sea,  and  the 
war  began  in  dead  earnest.  For  some  months  it  was  confined  to  the  Danu- 
bian  principalities  and  to  the  Baltic  Sea;  on  the  14th  of  September,  1854. 
the  allied  army  landed  at  Eupatoria,  in  the  Crimea,  and  the  extent  of  their 
preparations  will  be  understood  when  it  is  known  that  forty  thousand  men, 
with  a  large  number  of  horses  and  a  full  equipment  of  artillery,  were  put 
on  shore  in  a  single  day  ! 

"  On  the  20th  of  September  the  battle  of  the  Alma  was  fought  by 
fifty-seven  thousand  English,  French,  and  Turkish  troops,  against  fifty 
thousand  Russians.  The  battle  began  at  noon,  and  four  hours  later  the 
Russians  were  defeated  and  in  full  retreat.  The  Russians  lost  five  thou- 
sand men,  and  the  Allies  about  three  thousand  four  hundred ;  the  Allies 
might  have  marched  into  Sebastopol  with  very  little  resistance,  but  their 
commanders  were  uncertain  as  to  the  number  of  troops  defending  the  city, 
and  hesitated  to  make  the  attempt. 

"  On  the  17th  of  October  the  siege  began.  A  grand  attack  was  made 
by  the  Allies,  but  was  unsuccessful,  and  eight  days  later  the  famous  charge 
of  the  Light  Brigade  at  Balaklava  was  made.  On  the  5th  of  November 
the  Russians  attacked  the  Allies  at  Inkermann,  and  were  repulsed.  The 
battle  of  Inkermann  was  fought  in  a  fog  by  forty  thousand  Russians  against 
fifteen  thousand  French  and  English.  The  latter  had  the  advantage  of 
position  and  weapons;  the  Allies  frankly  credited  the  Russian  troops  with 
the  greatest  bravery  in  returning  repeatedly  to  the  attack  as  their  bat- 
talions were  mowed  down  by  the  steady  fire  of  the  defenders. 

"During  the  winter  the  siege  was  pushed,  and  the  allied  army  suffered 


494  THE    BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

greatly  from  cholera,  cold,  and  sickness.  The  siege  continued  during 
spring  and  summer ;  the  Allies  made  an  unsuccessful  attack  on  the  Mala- 
koff  and  Redan  forts  on  the  ISth  of  June,  1S55,  and  all  through  the  long 
months  there  were  daily  conflicts  between  the  opposing  armies. 

"  The  Russians  sunk  several  ships  of  their  fleet  in  the  harbor  of  Sebas- 
topol  soon  after  the  battle  of  the  Alma,  but  retained  others  for  possible 
future  use.  On  the  8th  of  September  the  French  captured  the  Malakoff 
fort,  the  English  at  the  same  time  making  an  unsuccessful  attack  on  the 
Redan.  The  Russians  evacuated  Sebastopol  during  the  night,  crossing 
over  to  the  north  side  of  the  harbor,  burning  or  sinking  their  fleet,  and 
destroying  their  military  stores. 

"  This  gave  the  Allies  the  possession  of  the  city,  and  though  the  two 
armies  confronted  each  other  for  some  time,  there  was  never  any  serious 
fighting  after  that.  Other  warlike  operations  were  conducted  along  the 
Russian  shores  of  the  Black  Sea.  Proposals  of  peace  were  made  by  Aus- 
tria with  the  consent  of  the  Allies,  and  finally,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1856, 
the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Paris.  The  Allies  had  begun  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  docks  at  Sebastopol,  but  so  extensive,  were  those  works  that 
with  all  the  engineering  skill  at  their  command  they  were  not  through 
with  it  until  July  9th,  when  they  evacuated  the  Crimea." 

"  Will  that  do  for  a  condensed  history  of  the  Crimean  "War  ?"  said 
Prank,  as  the  result  of  their  labors  was  submitted  to  the  Doctor. 

"  It  will  do  very  well,"  was  the  reply.  "  Perhaps  some  of  your  school- 
mates who  are  not  fond  of  history  may  be  inclined  to  skip,  but  I  think 
the  majority  of  readers  will  thank  you  for  giving  it." 

"  Perhaps  they  would  like  a  few  words  on  the  war  between  Turkey  and 
Russia  in  1877-78,"  said  Fred.     "If  you  think  so  we  will  give  it." 

Doctor  Bronson  approved  the  suggestion,  and  an  hour  or  two  later 
Fred  submitted  the  following: 

"In  1875  and  '76  there  were  disturbances  in  Constantinople  and  in 
several  provinces  of  European  Turkey.  The  Sultan  of  Turkey  was  de- 
posed, and  either  committed  suicide  or  was  murdered.  There  were  revolts 
in  Herzegovina  and  Bulgaria,  and  the  troops  sent  to  suppress  these  revolts 
committed  many  outrages.  Servia  and  Montenegro  made  war  upon  Tur- 
key on  behalf  of  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Porte ;  Russia  came  to  the 
support  of  Servia  and  Montenegro.  There  was  a  vast  deal  of  diplomacy,  in 
which  all  the  great  powers  joined,  and  on  several  occasions  it  looked  as 
though  half  of  Europe  would  be  involved  in  the  difficulty. 

"Turkey  and  Servia  made  peace  on  March  1,  1877.  The  principal 
nations  of  Europe  held  a  conference,  and  made  proposals  for  reforms  in 


THE   "SACRED  CITY"  OF  THE   CRIMEA. 


495 


49(5 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS    IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


Turkey  which  the  Porte  rejected.  Russia  declared  war  against  Turkey 
April  24,  1877,  and  immediately  entered  the  Turkish  dominions  in  Rou- 
mania  and  Armenia. 

"The  war  lasted  until  March  3,  1878,  when  a  treaty  of  peace  was 
made  at  San  Stefano,  near  Constantinople.  Many  battles  were  fought 
during  the  war,  and  the  losses  were  heavy  on  both  sides;  the  severest  bat- 
tles were  those  of  the  Shipka  Pass  and  of  Plevna.  The  fortune  of  war 
fluctuated,  but  on  the  whole  the  successes  were  on  the  side  of  Russia,  and 


RUINS    OF    THK.    MALAKOFF,    SEBASTOPOL 


her  armies  finally  stood  ready  to  enter  Constantinople.  Her  losses  were 
said  to  have  been  fully  one  hundred  thousand  men,  and  the  cost  of  the 
war  was  six  hundred  million  dollars. 

"  After  the  war  came  the  Berlin  Conference  of  1S7S,  which  gave  inde- 
pendence to  some  of  the  countries  formerly  controlled  by  Turkey,  made 
new  conditions  for  the  government  of  others,  regulated  the  boundaries  be- 
tween Russia  and  Turkey,  giving  the  former  several  ports  and  districts  of 
importance,  and  required  the  Porte  tc  guarantee  certain  rights  and  privi- 
leges to  her  Christian  subjects.  England  interfered,  as  she  generally  does, 
to   prevent   Russia  from   reaping  the  full  advantages  she  expected  from 


ARRIVAL  AT   SEBASTOPOL.  497 

the  war,  and  altogether  the  enterprise  was  a  very  costly  one  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Czar." 

"  A  very  good  summary  of  the  war,"  said  the  Doctor.  "  You  have  dis- 
posed of  an  important  phase  of  the  'Eastern  Question '  with  a  brevity  that 
some  of  the  diplomatic  wTriters  would  do  well  to  study.  You  might  add 
that  for  two  centuries  Russia  has  had  her  eye  on  Constantinople,  and  is 
determined  to  possess  it ;  England  is  equally  determined  that  Russia  shall 
not  have  her  way,  and  the  other  powers  are  more  in  accord  with  England 
than  with  Russia." 

The  steamer  entered  the  harbor  of  Sebastopol,  and  made  fast  to  the 
dock.  Frank  and  Fred  observed  that  the  port  was  admirably  defended 
by  forts  at  the  entrance.  Doctor  Bronson  told  them  the  forts  which 
stood  there  in  1854  were  destroyed  by  the  Allies  after  the  capture  of 
the  city,  but  they  have  since  been  rebuilt  and  made  stronger  than  ever 
before. 

As  they  neared  the  forts  that  guard  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  a  Rus- 
sian officer  who  was  familiar  with  the  locality  pointed  out  several  objects 
of  interest.  "On  the  left,"  said  he,  "that  pyramid  on  the  low  hill  indi- 
cates the  battle-field  of  Inkermann  ;  still  farther  on  the  left  is  the  valley  of 
the  Alma ;  those  white  dots  near  the  Inkermann  pyramid  mark  the  site  of 
the  British  cemetery,  and  close  by  it  is  the  French  one.  In  front  of  you 
and  beyond  the  harbor  is  the  mound  of  the  Malakoff,  and  beyond  it  are  the 
Redan  and  the  Mamelon  Vert.  Those  heaps  of  ruins  are  the  walls  of  the 
Marine  Barracks  and  Arsenal ;  they  are  rapidly  disappearing  in  the  restor- 
ation that  has  been  going  on  since  1871,  and  in  a  few  years  we  hope  to 
have  them  entirely  removed." 

There  was  quite  a  crowd  at  the  landing-place,  variously  composed  of 
officers,  soldiers,  and  mujiks ;  the  former  for  duty  or  curiosity,  and  the 
mujiks  scenting  a  possible  job.  Our  friends  proceeded  directly  to  the 
hotel,  which  was  only  two  or  three  hundred  yards  from  the  landing-place. 
As  soon  as  they  had  selected  their  rooms  and  arranged  the  terms  for  their 
accommodation,  Dr.  Bronson  told  the  proprietor  that  they  wished  a  car- 
riage and  a  guide  as  soon  as  possible.  A  messenger  was  despatched  at 
once  for  the  carriage,  while  the  guide  was  summoned  from  another  part  of 
the  house. 

"  I  suppose  you  will  go  first  to  the  cemetery,"  said  the  host  of  the 
establishment. 

"  "We  don't  care  for  the  cemetery,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  until  we  have 
seen  everything  else.  If  there  is  any  time  remaining,  we  may  have  a  look 
at  it." 

32 


498 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


"  Then  you  are  Americans, "  exclaimed  the  landlord.  "  All  English- 
men coming  here  want  to  go  first  to  the  cemetery  as  they  have  friends 
buried  there,  but  Americans  never  care  for  it.1' 

Doctor  Bronson  smiled  at  this  mode  of  ascertaining  the  nationality  of 
English-speaking  visitors,  and  said  it  had  been  remarked  by  previous  visit- 
ors to  Sebastopol. 

"When  the  guide  and  carriage  were  ready,  the  party  started  on  its  round 
of  visits.  From  the  bluff  they  looked  down  upon  the  harbor,  which  was 
lined  with  workshops  and  bordered  in  places  by  a  railway  track,  arranged 


RUSSIAN    CARPENTERS    AT    WORK. 


so  that  ships  were  laden  directly  from  the  trains,  and  trains  from  the  ships 
The  railway  connects  with  the  entire  system  of  the  Empire.  Doctor  Bron- 
son said  that  if  it  had  existed  at  the  time  of  the  war,  the  capture  of  Sebas- 
topol would  have  been  out  of  the  cpiestion.  Russia  had  then  only  a  primi- 
tive means  of  communication  by  wagon-road ;  she  had  an  abundance  of 
men  and  war  material,  but  no  adequate  mode  of  transportation.     The  Cri- 


THE  MALAKOFF  AND   REDAN. 


499 


COSSACKS    AND    CHASSEURS. 


mean  war  taught  her  the  necessity  of  railways,  and  she  has  since  acted 
upon  the  lesson  for  which  she  paid  such  a  high  price. 

Frank  and  Fred  climbed  quickly  to  the  top  of  the  Malakoff,  and  the 
Doctor  followed  demurely  behind  them.  ■  The  lines  which  marked  the  saps 
and  mines  of  the  Allies  have  been  nearly  all  filled  up,  and  the  traces  of  the 
war  are  being  obliterated.  From  the  top  of  the  casemate  the  guide  pointed 


500  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 

out  many  places  of  interest.  "With  considerable  animation  he  told  how  for 
twenty  years  after  the  war  the  ruins  of  the  city  remained  pretty  nearly  as 
they  were  when  the  Allies  evacuated  the  Crimea  ;  whole  squares  of  what 
had  once  been  fine  buildings  were  nothing  but  heaps  of  stones.  But  now 
Sebastopol  is  being  restored  to  her  former  beauty,  and  every  year  large 
areas  of  the  ruins  are  making  way  for  new  structures. 

"  Sebastopol  will  be  a  greater  city  than  it  ever  was  before,"  said  Doc- 
tor Bronson,  as  they  stood  on  the  Malakoff.  "  It  was  a  naval  port  before, 
and  not  a  commercial  one ;  now  it  is  both  naval  and  commercial,  and  by 
glancing  at  the  map  of  the  Black  Sea  you  can  perceive  the  advantages  of 
its  position." 

Then  the  guide  pointed  out  the  new  dock-yards  and  barracks,  the  ware- 
houses and  docks  of  "  The  Russian  Company  of  Navigation  and  Com- 
merce," the  railway-station  close  to  the  shore  of  the  harbor,  and  the  blocks 
of  new  buildings  which  were  under  construction. 

Then  he  showed  the  positions  of  Inkermann,  the  Tchernaya,  and  the 
Redan,  and  indicated  the  lines  of  the  French  and  English  attack.  "When 
the  scene  had  been  sufficiently  studied,  the  party  returned  to  the  carriage 
and  continued  their  ride.  The  driver  was  instructed  to  go  to  Balaklava, 
stopping  on  the  way  to  show  them  the  spot  which  history  has  made  famous 
for  the  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade. 

As  they  passed  along  the  level  plateau  or  plain  of  Sebastopol,  they  saw 
everywhere  traces  of  the  camps  of  the  armies  that  besieged  the  city.  The 
guide  showed  the  route  of  the  railway  which  connected  the  harbor  of  Bala- 
klava with  the  camp,  the  wagon-roads  built  by  the  Allies,  the  redoubts 
that  served  as  defences  against  attacks  in  the  rear,  and  the  ridges  of  earth 
which  marked  the  positions  of  the  huts  where  officers  and  soldiers  had  their 
quarters  during  the  terrible  winter  of  1S5J—  55. 

Naturally  the  conversation  turned  upon  the  charge  of  the  Light  Bri- 
gade.    One  of  the  youths  asked  the  Doctor  what  he  thought  of  it. 

"There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  controversy  about  the  matter."  was 
the  reply.  "  It  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  the  exact  facts,  as  Captain  Nolan, 
who  brought  the  order  for  the  cavalry  to  advance,  was  killed  in  the  charge. 
Comparing  the  statements  of  all  concerned  in  issuing,  receiving,  and  exe- 
cuting the  order,  it  is  evident  that  the  order  was  '  blundered '  somewhere. 
This  was  the  understanding  immediately  after  the  controversy  ;  Tenny- 
son's poem  on  the  affair  originally  contained  the  following : 


"  '  Then  up  came  an  order 

Which  some  one  bad  blundered.' 


THE  FAMOUS   CHARGE   AT  BALAKLAVA. 


501 


Afterwards  these  lines  were  stricken  out,  and  do  not  appear  in  the  poem 
as  printed  in  the  editions  of  Tennyson's  works. 

"  The  commander  of  the  French  army  justly  remarked  of  this  charge, 
'Cest  magnijique,  mats  ce  n 'est pas  la  guerre''  ("  It  is  magnificent,  but  it  is 
not  war  ").  Twelve  thousand  Russians  had  attacked  the  English  with  the 
intention  of  taking  Balaklava  and  its  port,  but  they  were  compelled  to  re- 


I3RITISH    SOLD1KUS    IN    CAMP. 


tire  to  the  end  of  the  valleys  They  had  re-formed,  with  their  artillery  in 
front,  and  infantry  and  cavalry  immediately  "behind.  By  the  misunder- 
standing of  the  order  of  Lord  Raglan,  the  British  commander-in-chief, 
Lord  Lucan,  who  commanded  the  cavalry  division,  ordered  Lord  Cardigan 
to  charge  with  his  light  cavalry. 

"In  other  words  the  light  cavalry,  six  hundred  and  seventy  strong, 
were  to  attack  twelve  thousand  Russians  with  thirty  cannon  on  their 
front.  The  charge  was  over  a  plain  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  and  the  Rus- 
sians had  a  battery  of  field  artillery  on  each  side  of  the  valley  within  sup- 


502 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS   IN   THE   RUSSIAN   EMPIRE. 


porting  distance  of  that  at  the  end.     Consequently  there  is  an  excellent 
description  of  the  scene  in  Tennyson's  lines, 

"  'Cannon  to  right  of  them, 
Cannon  to  left  of  them, 
Cannon  in  front  of  them, 
Volley'd  and  thunder'd.' 

"  The  charge  was  made  very  reluctantly  by  Lord  Cardigan,  as  yon  may 
well  believe,  but  he  had  no  alternative  other  than  to  obey  the  order  of 
his  superior.     There  was  never  a  more  brilliant  charge.      The  column 

advanced  at  a  trot  for  the  first  half  of  the 
distance,  and  afterwards  at  a  gallop ;  the 
Russian  cannon  made  huge  gaps  ill  the 
ranks,  but  they  were  closed  up,  and  on  and 
ou  swept  the  heroes,  up  to  and  beyond  the 
Russian  cannon — 

"'Sabring  the  gunners  there, 
Charging  an  army,  while 

All  the  world  wonder'd  : 
Plunged  in  the  battery-smoke, 
Eight  thro'  the  line  they  broke ; 
Cossack  and  Russian 
Reel'd  from  the  sabre-stroke 

Shatter'd  and  sunder'd. 
Then  they  rode  back,  but  not. 

Not  the  six  hundred.' 

"  According  to  one  authority,  out  of  six 
hundred  and  seventy  British  horsemen  that 
went  to  the  charge,  only  one  hundred  and 
ninety -eight  returned.  Another  authority 
gives  the  total  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
captured  as  four  hundred  and  twenty-six. 
Five  hundred  and  twenty  horses  were  lost 
in  the  charge." 

"  Here  is  Balaklava,"  said  the  guide,  as 

the  carriage  stopped  at  a  turn  in  the  road 

overlooking  the  valley. 

Our  friends  stepped  from  the  vehicle  and  sat  down  upon  a  little  mound 

of  earth,  where  they  tried  to  picture  the  scene  of  the  dreadful  October 

day  of  1854.     Of  the  actors  and  spectators  of  that  event  very  few  are 

now  alive. 

The  Doctor  completed  the  recitation  of  the  poem,  and  his  youthful 


ALFRED    TENNYSON. 


BALAKLAVA  HARBOR. 


503 


listeners  felt  down  to  the  depths  of  their  hearts  the  full  force  of  the 


closing  lines ; 


'Honor  the  brave  and  bold, 
Long  shall  the  tale  be  told, 
Yea,  when  our  babes  are  old, 

How  they  rode  onward. 
When  can  their  glory  fade  ? 
O  the  wild  charge  they  made! 

All  the  world  wonder'd. 
Honor  the  charge  they  made ! 
Honor  the  Light  Brigade ! 

Noble  six  hundred!" 


From  the  battle-field  the  party  went  to  the  village  of  Balaklava  and 
hired  a  row-boat,  in  which  they  paddled  about  the  little,  landlocked  harbor, 


'fjfcmgxg- 


A    BROKEN    TARANTASSE. 


and  out  through  its  entrance  till  they  danced  on  the  blue  waters  of  the 
Euxine  Sea.     Frank  and  Fred  could  hardly  believe  that  the  narrow  basin 


50i 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS  IN  THE   RUSSIAN  EMPIRE. 


once  contained  a  hundred  and  fifty  English  and  French  shijjs ;  it  seemed 
that  there  was  hardly  room  for  a  third  of  that  number. 

On  their  return  journey  they  passed  a  party  with  a  broken  tarantasse. 
They  stopped  a  moment  and  offered  any  assistance  in  their  power,  but 
finding  they  could  be  of  no  use  they  did  not  tarry  long.  When  they 
reached  Sebastopol  the  sun  had  gone  down  in  the  west,  and  the  stars 


THE    BOSPORUS. 


twinkled  in  the  clear  sky  that  domed  the  Crimea.  The  next  morning 
they  rambled  about  the  harbor  and  docks  of  the  city,  and  a  little  past 
noon  were  steaming  away  in  the  direction  of  Odessa. 

A  day  was  spent  in  this  prosperous  city,  which  has  a  population  of 
nearly  two  hundred  thousand,  on  a  spot  where  at  the  end  of  the  last  cen- 
tury there  was  only  a  Tartar  village  of  a  dozen  houses,  and  a  small  fortress 
of  Turkish  construction.  Odessa  has  an  extensive  commerce,  and  the 
ships  of  all  nations  lie  at  its  wharves.  Its  greatest  export  trade  is  in 
wheat,  which  goes  to  all  parts  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  also  to  England. 
The  Black  Sea  wheat  formerly  found  a  market  in  America,  but  all  that 
has  been  changed  in  recent  years  through  the  development  of  the  wheat- 
growing  interest  in  our  Western  States  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Immediately  on  their  arrival  they  sent  their  passports  to  receive  the 


A  DREAM  OF  THE   FUTURE.  505 

proper  permission  for  leaving  the  country.  Everything  was  arranged 
in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  on  the  following  afternoon  they  embarked 
on  a  steamer  that  carried  them  to  Constantinople. 

The  second  morning  after  leaving  Odessa  they  entered  the  Bosporus, 
the  strait  which  separates  Europe  and  Asia,  and  connects  the  waters  of 
the  Black  Sea  with  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  Mediterranean.  As  they 
looked  at  the  beautiful  panorama,  which  shifted  its  scene  with  every  pulsa- 
tion of  the  steamer's  engine,  Frank  said  he  had  had  a  dream  during  the 
night  which  was  so  curious  that  he  wanted  to  tell  it. 

"  What  was  it  ?"  the  Doctor  asked. 

"  I  dreamed,"  said  Frank,  "  that  England  and  Russia  had  become 
friends,  and  made  up  their  minds  to  work  together  for  the  supremacy  of 
the  world.  England  had  supplied  the  money  for  completing  the  railway 
to  India ;  she  had  built  a  tunnel  under  the  British  Channel,  and  it  was 
possible  to  ride  from  Loudon  to  Calcutta  or  Bombay  without  changing 
cars.  The  Turks  had  been  expelled  from  Eunype ;  European  Turkey  was 
governed  by  a  Russian  prince  married  to  an  English  princess ;  the  princi- 
pality had  its  capital  at  Constantinople,  and  a  guarantee  of  neutrality  like 
that  of  Belgium,  to  which  all  the  great  powers  had  asseuted.  War  and 
commercial  ships  of  all  nations  could  pass  the  Bosporus  and  Dardanelles 
as  freely  as  through  the  Suez  Canal,  and  the  restrictions  made  by  the  treaty 
of  Paris  were  entirely  removed.  England  and  Russia  had  formed  an  of- 
fensive and  defensive  alliance,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world  had  been 
ordered  to  keep  the  peace.  And  they  were  keeping  it,  too,  as  they  dreaded 
the  combined  power  of  England's  money  and  Russia's  men." 

"  A  very  pretty  fancy !"  said  the  Doctor.  "  What  a  pity  it  was  all  a 
dream !" 


THE    END. 


INTERESTING  BOOKS  FOR  BOYS. 


BOUND  VOLUMES  OF  HARPER'S  YOUNG  PEOPLE  for  1881,  1883,  1884,  1885,  ami 
1886,  Handsomely  Bound  in  Illuminated  Cloth,  $3  50  per  vol.  Bound  Volumes  for 
1880  and  1882  are  out  of  stock. 

THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths 
in  a  Journey  in  European  and  Asiatic  Russia.  With  Accounts  of  a  Tour  across 
Siheria,  Voyages  on  the  Amoor,  Volga,  and  other  Rivers,  a  Visit  to  Central  Asia, 
Travels  among  the  Exiles,  and  a  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Empire  from  its  Founda- 
tion to  the  Present  Time.  By  Thomas  W.  Kxox.  Copiously  Illustrated.  8vo, 
Cloth,  $3  00. 

THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.  Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a 
Journey  through  Ecuador,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Brazil,  Paraguay,  Argentine  Republic,  aud 
Chili.  With  Descriptions  of  Patagonia  and  Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  Voyages  upon  the 
Amazon  and  La  Plata  Rivers.  By  Thomas  W.  Knox.  Copiously  Illustrated.  8vo, 
Cloth,  §3  00. 

THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS  IN  THE  FAR  EAST.  By  Thomas  W.  Kxox.  Five  Parts. 
Copiously  Illustrated.     8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00  each. 

PART  I.   Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  to  Japan  and  China. 

PART  II.   Adventures   of  Two  Youths   in   a  Journey  to   Siam  and  Java.     With 
Descriptions  of  Cochiu-Chimi,  Cambodia,  Sumatra,  aud  the  Malay  Archipelago. 

PART   III.    Adventures   of  Two  Youths  in   a  Journey  to  Ceylon  and   India. 
With  Descriptions  of  Borneo,  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  Burmah. 

PART  IV.   Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  to  Egypt  and  Palestine. 

PART  V.   Adventures  of  Two  Youths  in  a  Journey  through  Africa. 

THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  "VIVIAN"  to  the  North  Pole  and  Beyond.  Adventures  of 
Two  Youths  in  the  Opeu  Polar  Sea.  By  Thomas  W.  Knox.  Profusely  Illustrated. 
8vo,  Cloth,  S2  50. 

HUNTING  ADVENTURES  ON  LAND  AND  SEA.  By  Thomas  W.  Kxox.  Two  Parts. 
Copiously  Illustrated.     8vo,  Cloth,  §2  50  each. 

PART  I.    The  Young  Nimuods  in  North  America. 

PART  II.   The  Young  Nimrods  Around  the  World. 

WHAT  MR.  DARWIN  SAW  IN  HIS  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD  IN  THE  SHIP 
"BEAGLE."     Illustrated.     8vo,  Cloth,  |3  00. 

FRIENDS  WTORTH  KNOWING.  Glimpses  of  American  Natural  History.  By  Ernest 
Lngersoll.     Illustrated.     16mo,  Cloth,  SI  00. 

BY  CHARLES  CARLETON  COFFIN.  Four  Volumes.  Illustrated.  8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00 
each. 

\ 
The  Story  of  Liberty. — Old  Times  in  the  Colonies. — The  Boys  of  '76  (A  History 
of  the  Battles  of  the  Revolution). — Building  the  Nation. 

CAMP  LIFE  IN  THE  WOODS;  AND  THE  TRICKS  OF  TRAPPING  AND  TRAP 
MAKING.  By  W.  Hamilton  Gibson,  Author  of  "  Pastoral  Days."  Illustrated  by 
the  Author.     16mo,  Cloth,  $1  00. 

HOW  TO  GET  STRONG,  AND  HOW  TO  STAY  SO.  By  William  Blaikie.  With 
Illustrations.     16mo,  Cloth,  |1  00. 


Interesting  Books  for  Boys. 


"HARPER'S  YOUNG  PEOPLE  "  SERIES.     Illustrated.     16mo,  Cloth,  $1  00  per  vol. 

The  Adventures  of  Jimmy  Brown.     Written  by  Himself  and  Edited  by  W.  L.  Alden. 

The  Cruise  of  the  Canoe  Club.    By  W.  L.  Alden. 

The  Chuise  of  the  "Ghost."    By  W.  L.  Alden. 

The  Moral  Pirates.     By  W.  L.  Alden. 

Toby  Tyler;  or,  Ten  Weeks  with  a  Circus.    By  James  Otis. 

Mr.  Stubbs's  Brother.     A  Sequel  to  "Toby  Tyler."     By  James  Otis. 

Tim  and  Tip  ;  or,  The  Adventures  of  a  Boy  and  a  Dog.    By  James  Otis. 

Left  Behind  ;  or,  Ten  Days  a  Newsboy.    By  James  Otis. 

Raising  the  "  Pearl."     By  James  Otis. 

Silent  Pete.    By  James  Otis. 

The  Story  of  Music  and  Musicians.     By  Lucy  C.  Lillie. 

Jo's  Opportunity.    By  Lucy  C.  Lillie. 

Rolf  House.    By  Lucy  C.  Lillie. 

Mildred's  Bargain,  and  Other  Stories.    By  Lucy  C.  Lillie. 

Nan.     By  Lucy  C.  Lillie. 

The  Four  Macnicols.    By  William  Black. 

The  Lost  City;  or,  The  Boy'  Explorers  in  Central  Asia.    By  David  Ker. 

Into  Unknown  Seas.    By  David  Ker. 

The  Talking  Leaves.    An  Indian  Story.    By  W.  0.  Stoddard. 

Two  Arrows.    A  Story  of  Red  and  White.     By  W.  O.  Stoddard. 

Who  was  Paul  Grayson  ?    By  John  Habberton,  Author  of  "  Helen's  Babies." 

Prince  Lazybones,  and  Other  Stories.     By  Mrs.  W.  J.  Hays. 

The  Ice  Queen.    By  Ernest  Ingehsoll. 

Wakulla:  A  Story  of  Adventure  in  Florida.    By  C.  K.  Monroe. 

Strange  Stories  from  History.    By  George  Cary  Eggleston. 

MARY  AND  MARTHA.  The  Mother  and  the  Wife  of  George  Washington.  By  Benson 
J.  LossiNG,  LL.D.,  Author  of  "  Field-hook  of  the  Revolution,"  "  Field-hook  of  the 
War  of  1812,"  "Cyclopedia  of  United  States  History,"  &c.  Illustrated  by  Fac- 
similes of  Pen-and-ink  Drawings  by  H.  Rosa.     pp.  xxii.,  348.     8vo,  Ornamental 

Cloth,  $2  50. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY,  FOR  BOYS.  By  Benson  J.  Los- 
sing,  LL.D.     Illustrated.     12mo,  Half  Leather,  §1  75. 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF  A  YOUNG  NATURALIST.  By  Lucien  Biart.  With  117 
Illustrations.     12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

AN  INVOLUNTARY  VOY'AGE.     By  Lucien  Biart.     Illustrated.     12mo,  Cloth,  SI  25. 

ROUND  THE  WORLD;  including  a  Residence  in  Victoria,  and  a  Journey  by  Rail 
across  North  America.  By  a  Boy.  Edited  by  Samuel  Smiles.  Illustrated.  12mo, 
Cloth,  $1  50. 

THE  SELF-HELP  SERIES.     By  Samuel  Smiles.     12mo,  Cloth,  §1  00  per  volume. 
Self-Help.— Character.— Thrift.— Duty. 

POLITICS  FOR  YOUNG  AMERICANS.     By  Charles  Nordhoff.    12mo,  Half  Leather, 

75  cents. 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  OLD  PARK'S  TAVERN.  A  Story  of  the  South  Shore.  By 
Frances  A.  Humphrey'.     lGmo,  Cloth,  §1  00. 


Interesting  Books  for  Boys. 


STORIES  OF  THE  GORILLA  COUNTRY.  By  Paul  B.  Du  Chailld.  Illustrated 
12mo,  Cloth,  fl  50. 

THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  DWARFS.  By  Paul  B.  Du  Chaillu.  Illustrated.  12mo, 
Clotb,  $1  50. 

WILD  LIFE  UNDER  THE  EQUATOR.  By  Paul  B.  Du  Chaillu.  Illustrated. 
12mo,  Cloth,  %\  50. 

MY  APINGI  KINGDOM:  with  Life  in  the  Great  Sahara,  and  Sketches  of  the  Chase  of 
the  Ostrich,  Hyena,  &c.      By  Paul  B.  Du   Chaillu.      Illustrated.     12mo,  Cloth, 

$1  50. 

LOST  IN  THE  JUNGLE.     By  Paul  B.  Du  Chaillu.     Illustrated.     12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

THE   BOYHOOD  OF  GREAT  MEN.     By  John  G.  Edgar.     Illustrated.     16mo,  Cloth, 

fl  00. 

THE  FOOTPRINTS  OF  FAMOUS  MEN.  By  John  G.  Edgar.  Illustrated.  16ino, 
Cloth,  $1  00. 

HISTORY  FOR  BOYS  ;  or,  Annals  of  tho  Nations  of  Modern  Europe.  By  John  G. 
Edgar.     Illustrated.     lOuio,  Cloth,  $1  00. 

SEA-KINGS  AND  NAVAL  HEROES.  A  Book  for  Boys.  By  John  G.  Edgar.  Illus- 
trated.    16rno,  Cloth,  $1  00. 

THE  WARS  OF  THE  ROSES.     By  John  G.  Edgar.     Illustrated.     16mo,  Cloth,  Si  00. 

UPLAND  AND  MEADOW.  A  Poaetquissings  Chronicle.  By  Charles  C.  Abbott,  M.D. 
pp.  x.,  398.     12mo,  Ornamental  Cloth,  fl  50. 

STORIES  OF  THE  ISLAND  WORLD.  By  Charles  Nordhoff.  Illustrated.  12mo, 
Cloth,  $1  00. 

THE  THOUSAND  AND  ONE  NIGHTS;  or,  The  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments. 
Translated  and  Arranged  for  Family  Reading,  with  Explanatory  Notes,  by  E.  W. 
Lane.     600  Illustrations  by  Harvey.     2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  p  50. 

HENRY  MAYHEW'S  WORKS.     4  vols.,  16mo,  Cloth,  |1  25  per  vol. 

TnE  Boyhood  of  Martin  Luther. — The  Stort  of  the  Peas,vnt-Boi'  Philosopher. — 
Young  Benjamin  Franklin. — The  Wonders  of  Science. 

SCIENCE  FOR  THE  YOUNG.    By  Jacob  Abbott.    Illustrated.    4  vols. :  Heat.— Light.— 

Water  and  Land. — Force.     12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50  each. 

OUR  CHILDREN'S  SONGS.     Illustrated.     8vo,  Ornamental  Cover,  $1  00. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  SANDFORD  AND  MERTON.  By  Thomas  Day.  ISrao,  Half 
Bound,  75' cents. 

YOUTH'S  HEALTH-BOOK.     32mo,  Paper,  25  cents;  Cloth,  40  cents. 

STORIES  OF  THE  OLD  DOMINION.  From  the  Settlement  to  the  End  of  the  Revolu- 
tion.    By  John  Esten  Cooke.     Illustrated.     12mo,  Clotb,  fl  50. 

THE  LIFE  AND  SURPRISING  ADVENTURES  OF  ROBINSON  CRUSOE,  of  York, 
Mariner;  with  a  Biographical  Account  of  Defoe.  Illustrated  by  Adams.  Complete 
Edition.     12mo,  Cloth,  81  00. 


Interesting  Books  for  Boys. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  A  MOUTHFUL  OF  BREAD,  and  its  Effect  on  the  Organization 
of  Men  and  Animals.  By  Jean  Mace.  Translated  from  t lie  Eighth  French  Edition 
by  Mrs.  Alfred  Gatty.     12mo,  Cloth,  §1  75. 

THE  SERVANTS  OF  THE  STOMACH.  By  Jean  Mace.  Reprinted  from  the  London 
Edition,  Revised  and  Corrected.     12mo,  Cloth,  §1  75. 

FRED  MARKHAM  IN  RUSSIA;  or,  The  Boy  Travellers  in  the  Land  of  the  Czar.  By 
YV.  H.  G.  Kingston.     Illustrated.     Small  4to,  Cloth,  75  cents. 

SELF-MADE   MEN.     By  Charles  C.  B.  Seymour.      Many  Portraits.     12mo,  Cloth, 

$1  75. 

THE  SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON;  or,  Adventures  of  a  Father  and  Mother  and  Four 
Sons  on  a  Desert  Island.     Illustrated.     2  vols.,  18mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

THE  SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON  — Continued :  being  a  Sequel  to  the  Foregoing.     2 

vols.,  18mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

DOGS  AND  THEIR  DOINGS.  By  Rev.  F.  O.  Morris,  B.A.  Illustrated.  Square  8vo, 
Cloth,  Gilt  Sides,  $1  75. 

TALES  FROM  THE   ODYSSEY  FOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS.     By  C.  M.  B.     32ino,  Paper, 

25  cents;  Cloth,  40  cents. 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF  REUBEN  DAVIDGER;  Seventeen  Years  and  Four  Months 
Captive  among  the  Dyaks  of  Borneo.  By  J.  Greenwood.  Svo,  Cloth,  Illustrated, 
$1  25;  4to,  Paper,  15  cents. 

WILD  SPORTS  OF  THE  WORLD.  A  Book  of  Natural  History  and  Adventure.  By 
J.  Greenwood.     Illustrated.     Crown  8vo,  Cloth,  §2  50. 

CAST  UP  BY  THE  SEA  ;  or,  The  Adventures  of  Ned  Grey.  By  Sir  SAMUEL  W.  Bakeii, 
M.A.,  F.R.S.,  F.R.G.S.     12mo,  Cloth,  Illustrated,  $1  25;  4to,  Paper,  15  cents. 

HOMES  WITHOUT  HANDS:  Being  a  Description  of  the  Habitations  of  Animals,  classed 
according  to  their  Principle  of  Construction.  By  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Wood,  M.A.,  F.L.8. 
With  about  140  Illustrations  engraved  on  Wood  by  G.  Pearson,  from  Original  De- 
signs made  by  F.  W.  Keyl  and  E.  A.  Smith,  under  the  Author's  Superintendence. 
8vo,  Cloth,  $4  50;  Sheep,' $5  00;  Roan,  $5  00;  Half  Calf,  §0  75. 

THE  ILLUSTRATED  NATURAL  HISTORY.  By  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Wood.  M.A.,  F.L.S. 
With  450  Engravings.     12mo,  Cloth,  $1  05. 

CHAPTERS  ON  PLANT  LIFE.  By  Mrs.  S.  B.  Herrick.  Illustrated.  Square  16mo. 
Cloth,  60  cents. 

FLY-RODS  AND  FLY-TACKLE.  Suggestions  as  to  their  Manufacture  and  Use.  By 
Henry  P.  Wells.     Illustrated.     Post  8vo,  Illuminated  Cloth,  §2  50. 

NEW  GAMES  FOR  PARLOR  AND  LAWN.  New  Games  for  Parlor  and  Lawn,  with  a 
few  Old  Friends  in  a  New  Dress.     By  George  B.  Bartlett.     16mo,  Cloth,  §1  00. 

INDIAN  HISTORY  FOR  YOUNG  FOLKS.  By  Francis  S.  Drake.  With  Colored 
Frontispiece,  Numerous  Illustrations,  anil  a  Map  of  the  United  States,  showing  the 
Locations  and  Relative  Sizes  of  the  Indian  Reservations.  Square  8vo,  Ornamental 
Cloth,  S3  00. 

Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New-  York. 

,85T"  HAKPF.n  &  Brothers  will  send  any  of  the  above  works  by  mail,  pontage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  Cnited 
States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


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